New Delhi: The India-European Union free trade agreement (FTA) reflects a shared assessment that “more is at stake than trade alone” and signalled openness on negotiated terms in an era of “weaponised interdependence”, a report has said.
The report from Euronews said the deal goes far beyond tariffs when “great powers are increasingly weaponising tariffs and exploiting supply-chain dependencies”.
The agreement reflects the logic that “middle powers must build resilience together without abandoning values.”
“For India, the agreement is a signal of seriousness about becoming a top-tier manufacturing and services power without surrendering its political non-alignment,” the report mentioned.
Further, it maintained that if Europe wants this deal to be more than a headline, it needs to treat the progress of deal with measurable milestones for market access, cooperation on top transition challenges in energy and industry, as well as steps towards tech and supply-chain partnerships.
“An FTA can only set the framework and it is crucial to build cooperation at the company level and across key geo-economic industries,” it reminded.
The FTA cut or eliminated tariffs on 97 per cent of EU goods exports to India and preferential access for 99 per cent of Indian exports by value.
The report added that red lines were crossed and concessions accepted, noting European car tariffs will remain at 40 per cent while India agreed to phased elimination of duties on key industrial goods.
Europe is under enormous pressure to diversify economic ties, and the FTA marks a good start to what should become a year of more strategic partnerships, the report said.
The EU-India Trade and Technology Council is already advancing work on semiconductors and interoperability of digital public infrastructure, among other areas.
The report called the trade agreement to make trusted supplier ecosystems and joint R&D pathways operational. Closer cooperation on AI and trusted data sharing could help to develop alternatives to both US and China-dominated approaches to AI, it noted.
(IANS)
