EU and India announce 'mother of all trade deals'
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. We're recording this at 16 hours GMT on Tuesday the 27th of January. The EU and India hail their new trade agreement as the mother of all deals.
What is the significance of the EU-India trade agreement?
Following Iran's violent crackdown on protests, doctors and nurses who cared for the injured are now being arrested. And Spain is to grant legal status to half a million undocumented migrants. Also in this podcast, a new AI project in Britain helps schoolchildren connect with Holocaust survivors. We were only two children, my brother and myself, but we had a wonderful extended family. And how menopause is linked to a loss of grey matter. It does seem that the menopause might make the female brain more vulnerable to the risk of Alzheimer's disease. So what can be done? India and the European Union have reached a trade deal covering 2 billion people, and they're keen to talk it up. Here's European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen using the kind of language more often heard from Donald Trump.
We did it. We delivered the mother of all deals.
We're creating a market of 2 billion people, and this is the tale of two giants, the world's second and fourth largest economies... Two giants who choose partnership in a true win-win fashion.
A strong message that cooperation is the best answer to global challenges.
And speaking through a translator, the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, was equally bullish.
Friends, today India has concluded the largest ever free trade agreement in its history. This historic agreement will make access to the European markets easier for our farmers and small businesses. It will create new opportunities in manufacturing and will further strengthen cooperation between our service sectors.
The wide-ranging deal, which includes cuts to tariffs and a joint security partnership, comes as both sides face economic and political pressure from the US. I heard more from Arunade Mukherjee outside the talks in Delhi. trade of goods between the bloc of 27 European nations and the world's most populous country, which together make up nearly 25% of global GDP and have a market of, well, you're looking at about 2 billion people at least. And the deal is set to lower costs for European products entering India, namely cars, machinery, agricultural food items, after import duties are significantly reduced. It is also going to allow preferential entry of Indian exports into the European Union at reduced tariffs and aims to boost India's labour-intensive sectors, which is why this is important, because we're looking at sectors like textiles, apparel and engineering goods, which are some of those sectors which were hit adversely because of the impact of the US tariffs that India has been reeling under.
We got a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well who said that the deal is likely to make greater access to European markets and make it easier for India's farmers and also smaller businesses and will help boost manufacturing and services sector. So a visit and a summit certainly high on optics and both sides appear to be fairly pleased with what they've got at least as far as their body language is concerned. Yeah, and put this into the broader context, obviously all the disruption to global trade going around at the moment. For both sides, it was very important, given that we've seen the pressures on the European Union, either when it comes to Greenland or when it comes to India.
And it's continuing to purchase Russian oil, which has been something that has upset the US.
And there's this constant threat of higher tariffs for India. So both sides have felt this urgency to try and get this deal over the line to try and
recalibrate trade ties elsewhere and see what are the other alternatives as well given the unpredictable scenario so all of this is certainly going to be seen through that prism but having said that there was also a note of caution that i picked up from one of the economists who i was speaking to during my coverage who said that this is all very well yes there are many many gains but there will also be some challenges in terms of implementation because in those labor intensive sectors that we're mentioning
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–1:00
2
What is the significance of the EU-India trade agreement?
1:00–7:32
3
How is Iran responding to protests and what are the consequences?
7:32–7:58
4
What steps is Spain taking regarding undocumented migrants?
7:58–8:23
5
How is AI helping schoolchildren connect with Holocaust survivors?
8:23–10:11
6
What impact does menopause have on women's brain health?
10:11–15:05
7
How are tech giants being held accountable for social media addiction?
15:05–16:57
8
Why are tennis players banned from using fitness trackers during Grand Slams?
16:57–30:07
Speakers
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