Ursula von der Leyen is leading her new College of Commissioners on their first visit to India.
BRUSSELS — The European Union is looking to keep India on its side as geopolitical tensions mount with the United States and China, according to the draft joint statement from a top-level visit by EU leaders seen by POLITICO.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will lead her team on a visit to India next Friday, while Brussels and New Delhi will also convene their second-ever Trade and Technology Council to strengthen ties and counter America’s tariff threats and China’s assertive trade practices.
President Donald Trump’s global retreat poses an opportunity for rivals like China to fill the void, particularly in funding developing countries’ technology initiatives. The agreement on the table would help the EU maintain a critical foothold in the Asia-Pacific.
“The deepening of bilateral relations and the growing strategic convergence between the EU and India respond to the shifting dynamics of the global geopolitical landscape and a common interest in promoting global stability, economic security, and sustainable and inclusive growth,” reads the seven-page draft statement.
The get-together comes as von der Leyen sets her sights on strengthening the EU’s strategic partnership with India and reviving slow-moving negotiations on a free-trade agreement.
India is pushing for stronger commitments from the EU on market access, according to two EU diplomats briefed on the back and forth. Differences have emerged on how best to express this aspiration, with the Indian side seeking stronger wording in the TTC statement and the Europeans preferring to confine the point to the ongoing talks on the FTA.
India has frustrated its Western partners by hanging tough in trade talks and is especially playing hardball at the World Trade Organization to defend its food security strategy. EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič hosted his Indian counterpart Piyush Goyal in Brussels in January, when both also met WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
Industry tie-ups
The two sides will also vow to deepen their “commitment towards the multilateral trading system as an anchor in the current challenging geopolitical context.”
That affirmation could be a balm for Europe’s struggling automakers. They are in sore need of new export markets, under threat from China’s world-beating electric vehicles and at risk of a massive hit to their bottom lines from Trump’s threat to impose 25 percent tariffs on autos.
India, the world’s fifth-largest economy, is expected to maintain a growth of over 6 percent between 2026 and 2031, S&P Global estimates — similar to rates in China in the early 2000s that helped European carmakers earn record profits there.
It is also shifting quickly from combustion engines (ICEs) to EVs, with S&P predicting the share of ICEs will decline to 35 percent by 2035. The biggest challenge for the country in transitioning, however, is charging infrastructure.
The two sides will pledge to cooperate on harmonizing standards for EV charging infrastructure and set up a “joint research cooperation” focusing on recycling batteries for electric cars, the statement says. The projects will have a budget of €60 million that is expected to come from the Horizon Europe program and “matching Indian contributions.”
Brussels and New Delhi also want to join forces on artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and telecoms, alongside a push for “secure and trusted” connectivity — code for Chinese-free networks.
Plans include more joint R&D in chip design, talent exchanges, a new memorandum of understanding on 6G, and stronger ties between the Commission’s AI Office and the Indian AI Mission as India gears up to host the next international AI summit.
The statement could still change in the days leading up to the Feb. 28 talks in New Delhi. After a two-year hiatus since the first TTC, the two sides will host their third meeting “within one year from now,” the document adds.