The President of the European Commission, H.E. Ms. Ursula von der Leyen is on an official visit to India from 27-28 February 2025. She is accompanied by the European Union College of Commissioners which also marks the first-ever visit of the Commissioners to India. The landmark visit aims to strengthen the strategic partnership between India and the EU, focussing on the areas such as trade, technology, connectivity, and defence.
In the first of her engagements after landing in India, President Leyen paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat, and thereafter, headed with her delegation for the official engagements. She held a meeting with External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr. S. Jaishankar on the 27th February, 2025. Taking to X, Dr. Jaishankar shared “Pleased to call on @EU_Commission President @vonderleyen today in Delhi. Appreciate her thoughts on reenergizing India’s engagement with Europe. The wide ranging participation of Indian Ministers and EU College of Commissioners during this visit stands testimony to the importance we place on deeper India-EU ties”.
The EAM and his delegation participated at the India-EU bilateral cluster meeting, with the discussion focussing in the domains of connectivity, IMEC, green and clean energy, mobility and talent, security, Mediterranean and EU expansion. Thereafter, the 2nd India-EU Trade and Technology Council meeting was also held between the high-level delegations of both the countries. Sharing the same on X, the EAM noted “Participated in the 2nd India-EU Trade and Technology Council meeting along with my cabinet colleagues @PiyushGoyal and @AshwiniVaishnaw. Thank @HennaVirkkunen, @MarosSefcovic and @EZaharieva for their partnership. Took stock of the significant progress made in digital partnership, clean & green energy initiatives and trade, investments &resilient supply chains. Exchanged views on new opportunities in semiconductors, AI, 6G, EVs, Green Hydrogen and a mutually beneficial regime. Confident that today’s discussion will translate into economic, trade, and tech linkages”.
Meeting with the Prime Minister
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held meeting with the President of the European Commission Ms. Ursula von der Leyen at Hyderabad House in Delhi. In a joint press conference that followed, PM Modi shared “This visit of the President of the European Commission and the College of Commissioners to India is unprecedented. This isn’t just the European Commission’s first visit to India, but also the first such comprehensive engagement of the European Commission in any single country. Also, this is one of the first visits of the new Commission in its latest term. On this historic occasion, I warmly welcome the President of the European Commission and the College of Commissioners to India. This two-decade long strategic partnership between India and EU is natural and organic. Its core is built on trust, a shared belief in democratic values, and a mutual commitment to prosperity and shared progress. In this spirit, we have held almost 20 ministerial level meetings of different sectors between yesterday and today. Sincere and meaningful discussions were held on various regional and global matters. Many important decisions have been taken to elevate and accelerate our partnership”.
The European Commissioners who travelled to Hyderabad House for the discussions commuted through the bus powered by the hydrogen fuel cell technology, which has been developed and operated in collaboration with Tata Motors and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL).The visit of President Leyen with the EU College of Commissioners to India posits their relationship onto a newer heights where both the countries consider each other as reliable partners, particularly in the contemporary turbulent geopolitical scenario. India and EU have been partnering on issues like connectivity, trade, and technology among others and as such this visit only cements strategic priorities for both the parties.
EU is India’s top trading partner which also calls for deeper scope of engagement between India and EU. The multitude of meetings that have been held are crucial to strengthen India-EU ties, with the already proposed India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) serving as a building block for India’s strategy on connectivity and holistic partnership.
Conclusion
India and European Union are strategic partners since 2004 and their bilateral ties have expanded and deepened across a wide range of areas. As the two sides enter the third decade of the strategic partnership, the visit of President von der Leyen and the EU College of Commissioners paves the way for further strengthening of bilateral relations based on growing convergences. This is President Ursula von der Leyen’s third visit to India, with the first visit taking place in April 2022 for a bilateral official visit and the third one to attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit in September 2023. Prime Minister Modi and President Ursula von der Leyen have also been meeting regularly on the sidelines of multilateral meetings.
