A Letter from Europe
For years, the EU–India relationship was defined by potential rather than performance. That ambiguity is now gone. With a trade deal concluded and a security partnership signed, the relationship has acquired real strategic weight. But frameworks alone do not change outcomes; implementation does. Can Europe and India deliver where it now truly matters?
Two events in early 2026—the AI Action Summit and the Raisina Dialogue—have, taken together, done something very useful. They have stripped the EU–India relationship of its remaining uncertainty. In fact, they have made clear that the frameworks are now fully in place: the Free Trade Agreement negotiations have concluded, and the Security and Defence Partnership has been signed. The question is no longer whether the EU–India relationship has strategic substance. It does. The architects of this have done a remarkable job. The question is (and has been during Raisina) what comes next—how and when. And the answer is less exciting and more consequential. For what comes next is implementation.