India and the European Union agreed on Wednesday (January 21, 2026) to sign a new Security and Defence Partnership covering maritime security, cybersecurity and counterterrorism, the E.U.’s highest ranking diplomat Kaja Kallas announced.

The partnership will be signed next week during the visit of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa to India, where they will be chief guests at Republic Day celebrations. The leaders will co-chair the 16th India-E.U. Summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The preparations for the visit were going well, but were not without challenges, said Ms. Kallas, who will be accompanying the leaders to India.

The visit is centred around the signing of a ‘Free Trade’ Agreement (FTA), which is still being finalised.

India and the E.U. will adopt a new comprehensive strategic agenda next week, using a 2030 planning horizon, Ms. Kallas told European parliamentarians in Strasbourg. She noted that the E.U. is among India’s largest trading partners and described India as “indispensable” to Europe’s economic resilience.

The two sides worked on the joint statement and agenda mindful of the fact that the Summit “must deliver, taking into account the geopolitical landscape”, Ms. Kallas said.

Additionally, the two sides are also aiming to conclude a Security of Information Agreement, Ms. Kallas said, adding that in a dangerous world, India and the E.U. could benefit from working together.

“[The] E.U. and India are moving closer together at a time when the rules-based international order is under unprecedented pressure through wars, coercion, and economic fragmentation,” she said. Alongside the Russia-Ukraine war entering its fourth year next month, Europe has faced geopolitical shocks emanating from the White House over the last year, with U.S. President Donald Trump renegotiating the basis of the transatlantic relationship. In recent days, Mr. Trump threatened tariffs on several European countries if they did not facilitate the transfer of Greenland to the U.S.

Ms, Kallas told MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) that India and the E.U. must become more ambitious partners. “Two major democracies cannot afford to hesitate,” she said.

During the visit to New Delhi next week, the two sides plan to conclude an Memorandum of Understanding on a comprehensive mobility framework, to facilitate the movement of students, seasonal workers, researchers and highly skilled professionals, and promoting research and innovation, Ms. Kallas said.

“In the Indo-Pacific and beyond, Europe and India can help anchor stability by defending open sea lanes, strengthening maritime domain awareness and resisting coercion in all of its forms,” Ms. Kallas told parliamentarians.

The European Union is on the cusp of signing a historic trade agreement with India that is being called ‘the mother of all deals’, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Tuesday (January 20, 2026), asserting it will create a market for 2 billion people or about one-fourth of the global GDP.

In a special address in Davos at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, she said the real would crucially provide a first-mover advantage for Europe with one of the world’s fastest-growing and most dynamic continents.

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“Right after Davos, I will travel to India. There is still work to do. But we are on the cusp of a historic trade agreement. Some call it the mother of all deals,” she said.

“Europe wants to do business with the growth centres of today and the economic powerhouses of this century.”

“From Latin America to the Indo-Pacific and far beyond, Europe will always choose the world. And the world is ready to choose Europe,” she said.

President of the European Council, Antonio Costa and Ms. von der Leyen will be in India from January 25 to 27 to grace the Republic Day celebrations as chief guests and hold summit talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The two sides are set to announce the conclusion of negotiations on the much-awaited Free Trade Agreement at the India-EU summit on January 27.

European Commission President said the EU is also working on a new free trade agreement with Australia.

“We are also advancing with the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, the UAE — and more,” she added.

She also said Europe will always stand with Ukraine until there is a just and lasting peace.

The European Union is India’s biggest trade partner, with bilateral trade in goods recording $135 billion in the financial year 2023-24. The free trade agreement is expected to significantly enhance trade ties.

The proposed agreement is expected to bring a qualitative change in deepening the overall bilateral ties in a range of sectors, as well as at a time when the world is witnessing trade disruptions in view of Washington’s tariff policy.

Besides firming up the free trade agreement, the two sides are likely to unveil a defence framework pact and a strategic agenda at the summit.

India and the European Union have been strategic partners since 2004.

The ambitious FTA is being firmed up at a time amid increasing concerns over Washington’s trade and tariff policies, which have impacted both India and the 27-nation EU.

India and the EU are also expected to unveil a joint comprehensive strategic vision that will govern their relationship for the period 2026-2030.

The EU and India had first launched negotiations for the free trade agreement in 2007, before the talks were suspended in 2013 due to a gap in ambition. The negotiations. The negotiations were relaunched in June 2022.

The proposed Security and Defence Partnership (SDP) will facilitate deeper defence and security cooperation between the two sides.

The SDP will bring interoperability in the defence domain, and it will open up avenues for Indian firms to participate in the EU’s SAFE (Security Action for Europe) programme. The SAFE is the EU’s Euro 150 billion financial instrument designed to provide financial support to member states to speed up defence readiness.

At the summit, India and the EU are also set to launch the negotiations for a Security of Information Agreement (SOIA). The SOIA is expected to boost industrial defence cooperation between the two sides.