India, E.U. agree to sign security and defence partnership next week: Kaja Kallas

India and the European Union have agreed to sign a new Security and Defense Partnership covering maritime security, cyber security and counter-terrorism on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas announced.

The partnership will be signed next week during the visit of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa to India, where they will be the chief guests at the Republic Day celebrations. The leaders will co-chair the 16th India-EU Summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Ms. Kallas, who will accompany the leaders to India, said that preparations for the visit were going well, but there were also difficulties.

The centerpiece of the visit is the signing of the ‘Free Trade’ Agreement (FTA), which is still in the completion stage.

Ms Kallas told European parliamentarians in Strasbourg that India and the EU will adopt a new comprehensive strategic agenda next week using the 2030 planning horizon. She noted that the EU is among India’s largest trading partners and described India as “indispensable” to Europe’s economic resilience.

Ms. Kallas said the two sides were working on the joint statement and agenda, taking into account the fact that the Summit “must achieve its purpose, taking into account the geopolitical landscape.”

Additionally, both sides aim to sign an Information Security Agreement, Ms. Kallas said, adding that in a dangerous world, India and the EU can benefit from working together.

“[The] “The EU and India are closing in on each other at a time when the rules-based international order is under unprecedented pressure from wars, repressions and economic fragmentation,” he said. Besides the Russia-Ukraine war, which enters its fourth year next month, Europe has faced geopolitical shocks from the White House last year and US President Donald Trump renegotiated the basis of the transatlantic relationship. In recent days, Mr Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on some European countries if they do not facilitate the transfer. Greenland to the US

Ms. Kallas told MEPs (Members of European Parliament) that India and the EU need to be more assertive partners. “Two great democracies cannot afford to hesitate,” he said.

Ms. Kallas said that during the visit to New Delhi next week, the two sides plan to finalize a Memorandum of Understanding on a comprehensive mobility framework to facilitate the movement of students, seasonal workers, researchers and highly skilled professionals and promote research and innovation.

“In the Indo-Pacific and beyond, Europe and India can help ensure stability by defending high seas, strengthening maritime domain awareness and resisting all forms of oppression,” Ms. Kallas told parliamentarians.