Speaking in an interview with Euronews, Sefcovic said officials on both sides were finalising the last details of the deal. “We are checking the latest documents, we are exchanging the last numbers, and I believe that we are very, very close,” he said.
When asked whether the agreement could be signed as early as Tuesday, the EU trade commissioner said efforts were underway to meet that timeline. “We do our utmost, and I believe we will have a signature,” he added.
Sefcovic acknowledged that negotiations had been challenging, noting that India is known for being a tough negotiating partner. “They are known for being very tough negotiators and also our starting positions have been very different. India has relatively high tariffs and is a developing country, and we wanted to respect that specificity while at the same time protecting European interests,” he told Euronews.
The renewed momentum around the trade deal comes amid high-level diplomatic engagement between India and the EU. A key outcome of the ongoing summit is expected to be the signing of a security and Defence Partnership between the two sides by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas and India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. This would mark only the third such comprehensive defence partnership the EU has concluded in Asia, after similar agreements with Japan and the Republic of Korea.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has also underlined the strategic importance of India–EU ties. Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier, she said the two sides were on the cusp of a historic trade agreement, describing it as one that could create a market of nearly two billion people and account for close to a quarter of global GDP.
“There is still work to do, but we are on the brink of a historic trade agreement. Some call it the mother of all deals,” von der Leyen said, adding that Europe and India had chosen the path of strategic partnership, dialogue, and openness to build mutual resilience.
Von der Leyen, along with European Council President António Luís Santos da Costa, attended India’s 77th Republic Day celebrations as chief guests, underscoring the growing strategic convergence between New Delhi and Brussels.
