The new India-Europe trade agreement has created a vast market “of two billion people” EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday, a deal reached after two decades of negotiations.
“Europe and India are making history today,” von der Leyen said in a statement in New Delhi, where she is meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “We have concluded the mother of all deals. We have created a free trade zone of two billion people, with both sides set to benefit.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that a huge trade pact with the European Union, totaling about 25 percent of global GDP, would bring sweeping benefits.
“People in the world are discussing this as a mother of all deals,” Modi said in the capital New Delhi ahead of a meeting with EU chiefs, adding that for India it would boost sectors including textiles, gems and jewelry, and leather goods.
“This deal will bring many opportunities for India’s 1.4 billion and many millions of people of the EU,” he said.
