New Delhi [India], October 14 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said that the India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) would open up an enormous and mature market with significant purchasing power for India, expressing hope that the agreement would enter into force by the end of this year or early next year.

Speaking in a conversation with John Micklethwait, Editor-in-Chief at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Delhi, Jaishankar described 2026 as the "Europe Year" for India, highlighting the significance of the trade agreement and the growing engagement between New Delhi and Brussels.

'This year in many ways has been the 'Europe Year.' And the reason is, we had the European Commission and Council Presidents for our National Day. There was symbolism there. We have closed out our FTA with Europe. It took 25 years to negotiate. Our hope, in a way, expectation is that we would be able to get this FTA entered into force in the coming months, hopefully by the end of the year or early next year. What it does for us is that it actually opens up an enormous and mature market with great purchasing power, and which for us is a very complementary economic player,' Jaishankar said.

The External Affairs Minister further stressed that India had consistently sought to maintain international partnerships while preserving its strategic autonomy, distinguishing New Delhi's approach from that of countries operating within formal alliances.

'It's always been our effort to have relationships but maintain a high degree of what we call strategic autonomy... But this change, which has happened in the last year, it has been very Brussels-led... we're not doing the FTA because we are looking at multipolarity. The two are independent happenings. The world is moving multipolar. Europe is getting more cohesive. Europe itself is talking about strategic autonomy. That's music to our ears. They are moving to a position and place with which we are very comfortable,' Jaishankar added.

On Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's remarks on the changing global order, Jaishankar said that India's trade engagement with Europe had been well advanced before Carney spoke at Davos, cautioning against viewing New Delhi's engagement with Brussels solely through the Canadian leader's strategic framework.

'Carney is giving a strategic analysis from a Canadian perspective and partly from an alliance perspective... My free trade agreement with Europe was well advanced before Carney spoke at Davos. I won't force-fit what I'm doing with Europe into Prime Minister Carney's paradigm. I appreciate it for where it is coming from, but we are not an alliance partner,' he said.

Earlier on October 9, European Union Ambassador to India Jean-Eric Paquet said the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) would be "an absolute game changer for India and Europe", highlighting its potential to strengthen trade, investment and supply chains alongside deeper cooperation in defence and economic security.

Addressing the Annual Session and Champion Awards 2026 of the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) in New Delhi, Paquet said India and the European Union aimed to conclude the FTA by the end of 2026 and bring it into force in 2027.

"What lies ahead is the signing of the Free Trade Agreement. In principle, we aim to conclude the FTA by the end of this year and intend to bring it into force in the course of 2027. This is an absolute game changer for India and Europe," he said.

Paquet said he hoped the FTA would be accompanied by an Investment Protection Agreement, which is currently under negotiation, adding that the two agreements could create a common economic space between India and Europe.

"Together, the FTA, the mother of all these initiatives and the Investment Protection Agreement would create a single economic space spanning India and Europe. Within this space, we could trade more freely, strengthen supply chains through trade and investment, make them more resilient and reduce strategic dependencies," he said. (ANI)