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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen beamed as she stood next to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two leaders had just tasked their respective teams with ironing out decades-long differences to finalize a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) — first discussed in 2007 — by the end of this year.
It is “the largest deal of this kind anywhere in the world,” von der Leyen declared. “Surprise us.”
The impetus to push the deal forward appears to be the result of an EU scramble to find alternative markets, as their closest ally across the Atlantic declares a trade war. With U.S. President Donald Trump threatening tariffs against Europe almost as soon as he took office, von der Leyen first signed a long-controversial deal with the Latin American Mercosur bloc, and then looked east toward India.
“We both stand to lose from a world of spheres of influence and isolationism. And we both stand to gain from a world of cooperation and working together,” she said during her February visit to New Delhi.
And with a population of more than 1.4 billion people, India offers a vast market for European goods and services, a manufacturing base it could invest in and nurture to counter China, and — crucially — a vast reserve of human capital to utilize.
Back in 2023, the EU had prepared an action plan to lure foreign workers and meet bloc-wide shortages in 42 occupations. And provided their qualifications are recognized and visa processes made easier, Indian citizens are now poised to plug these gaps.
The Indian community has already made a name for itself in the technology, health care and hospitality industries in most of the West. Indian doctors and nurses are highly sought after in the U.S. and the U.K.; they are an attractive hiring pool for English-speaking hotel and restaurant staff and seasonal tourism workers; and Indian techies have become some of the biggest names in the game.
Sitting in his office, India’s EU envoy Saurabh Kumar told me that if Europe is interested, India has skilled and talented manpower that could match the bloc’s needs through structured, legal and transparent frameworks.
Source :- https://www.politico.eu/article/india-europe-relations-aging-trade-migration/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
