Arundhye Mukherjee

Well, in their own words, they're referring to it as the mother of all deals.

I think the fact that both of these sides have managed to get this deal across the line is in itself important, given the relationship that both of them have shared.

The European Union has been the largest trading bloc for India.

Trade between both countries had crossed $135 billion last year.

Both together are 25% of the global population, a fifth of global trade.

So you can just imagine that kind of statistic gives you a sense of why this relationship is important.

which is why there was a lot of significance being attributed to these conversations that were happening, which began, in fact, in 2007, stalled for several years, picked up again in 2022.

And I think there was a great deal of urgency, given the geopolitical scenario, the global uncertainty over tariffs, that both sides felt that they needed to work together and get this over the line.

Some of the sectors that we're looking at, the labour-intensive sectors for India, would be looking for concessions in terms of tariffs, for instance, jewellery, textiles, leather, gems.

And in terms of the European Union, they would certainly be looking for more market access for some of the very heavily protected Indian sectors.

One of them that's been talked about is the automobile sector, where European carmakers are hoping to increase their footprint.

Well, you know, it remains to be seen.

It's always been unpredictable in terms of trade and tariffs as President Trump took over and some of his announcements that have come in off late for the European Union.

The whole Greenland conversation has been a bit of a concern for India.

It's continuing to buy Russian oil, has not gone down well with Donald Trump, which is why you're seeing India being slapped with some of the highest tariffs around the world.

India was very conscious of that fact.

And the fact that they have not been able to get a deal done with the U.S.

has been a bit of a stress point for sure for officials here, which is why they're looking to see whether they can recalibrate trade relationships with other partners.

trying to see where else they can get their markets open, where else can these businesses sort of flourish.

But having said this, there are going to be challenges.