India-EU Free Trade Deal 'Finalised'; Hindutva Fanatics Target Bulleh Shah; Bangladesh Says Adani Overcharged for Power; Farewell Mark Tully
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January 26, 2026
Siddharth Varadarajan
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Council president Antonio Costa are in New Delhi, where they attended the 77th Republic Day parade as chief guests on Monday and where they will participate in the India-EU summit on Tuesday, during which a high-profile announcement over the conclusion of the two sides’ free trade negotiations is anticipated. The fact that a broad agreement has been concluded was announced Monday night by the Indian commerce secretary, Rajesh Agarwal. “Negotiations have been successfully concluded. The deal has been finalised,” he said.
Ahead of the summit, Reuters’s Aditi Shah and Philip Blenkinsop report citing sources that Raisina Hill plans to reduce, under a quota, tariffs on European cars costing over €15,000 from the present 110% to 40%. This, they note, would mark “the biggest opening yet of [India’s] vast market” where domestic carmakers remain largely protected. New Delhi aims to further reduce the levy to 10% but battery electric vehicles would be exempted from the concession for five years. Firms like Volkswagen, Renault and Stellantis will stand to benefit, as will high-end manufacturers Mercedes-Benz and BMW; with the lowered tariffs they could probe the market “with a broader portfolio before committing to manufacturing more cars locally”.
A draft security and defence cooperation document also proposes that the two sides explore opportunities for Indian participation in EU defence initiatives as well as an annual dialogue between the two sides, reports Lili Bayer.
Of course there is a political signal that an Indo-EU free trade agreement would send, namely that “there are other options besides the United States” at a time when the Trump administration is levying unprecedented tariffs even on traditional American allies. But it isn’t just realpolitik that is bringing the two sides closer even as New Delhi maintains strong relations with Moscow and amid its illiberal turn, notes political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot. What’s also at work, he writes, is that “the ideological center of gravity of the Old Continent … is shifting” to the right, such that “the convergence underway … could ultimately be based not only on
