EU's top team to embark on an "unprecedented" visit to India

BRUSSELS

The EU's top team is to embark on an "unprecedented" visit to India this week, as the bloc seeks to broaden its commercial and diplomatic ties to hedge against souring relations with the United States.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and her college of commissioners are to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government in New Delhi during a two-day trip, starting today.

The trip is the latest sign of a Brussels push to diversify ties away from the United States and position itself as a reliable partner for others looking to do business.

"In this era of intense geostrategic competition, Europe stands for openness, partnership, and outreach," von der Leyen said ahead of the trip, hailing India as one of the EU's "most trusted friends and allies."

Almost all the EU's 26 commissioners are to join the 66-year-old German politician in what the bloc's executive is billing as the first visit of its kind to the South Asian giant and the first outside Europe for the new college that took office in December.

It comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has upended Brussels's traditionally close partnership with Washington, berating EU tech laws, threatening tariffs, and undercutting European allies by launching Ukraine talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin.

The European Union has been left "looking for friends" and India, the world's most populous country, is a "natural candidate", said Andre Sapir, of Brussels-based think tank Bruegel.

Brussels has been working to broaden its horizons since Trump won back the White House in November.

In recent months it has announced a strengthened trade deal with Mexico, the resumption of talks with Malaysia, a new agreement with the South American bloc Mercosur and the "first-ever" EU-Central Asia summit.

It has also struck a more conciliatory note towards China, which however "remains a significant strategic challenge for Europe", said James Crabtree, of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) think tank.

"Building stronger ties with India, a democracy with increasing global influence, offers both greater economic opportunity and political appeal," he said.

The EU is India's largest trading partner, accounting for 124 billion euros ($130 billion) worth of trade in goods in 2023, more than 12 percent of total Indian trade, according to the EU.

India's expanding market offers key opportunities for sectors ranging from defence to agriculture, automobiles and clean energy. Yet, protected by high tariffs, it currently accounts for only 2.2 percent of EU trade in goods.

Negotiations for a trade deal were relaunched in 2022 and could get a boost from a White House bent on slapping tariffs on friends and foes alike, said a European diplomat.

"The case for a free trade agreement has never been stronger," the diplomat said.