India reached a landmark free trade agreement with the European Union this week — affecting two billion people and representing 25% of the global GDP. The 27-nation bloc also agreed upon a framework for deeper defence and security cooperation and signed a separate pact aimed at easing mobility for skilled workers and students. The latter will provide “an uncapped mobility for Indian students” to travel, study and work across EU states.
“More than 800,000 Indians are living and actively contributing to the countries of the European Union…Alongside this ambitious FTA, we are also creating a new framework for mobility. This will open up new opportunities in the European Union for Indian students, workers, and professionals. We have a long-standing and extensive cooperation in science and technology. Today, we have decided to further strengthen these important linkages,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Guaranteed window up to 12 months for international students
According to reports, the FTA has introduced a new framework for young Indian professionals or those graduating from EU institutions. They will now have a guaranteed window of at least nine to 12 months to seek employment — ensuring early integration of Indian talent into the European workforce.
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The mobility agreement is not a sweeping decree for all EU countries. The framework will have to be ratified individually by member countries — with the extent of benefits determined by their own preferences.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri added during a recent briefing that the pact would “will facilitate and streamline safe, regular migration, support skill development, and ease the movement of highly skilled workers, students, researchers and seasonal workers”.
‘India comes out on top’: US Trade Representative Greer
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer opined on Tuesday that the newly signed FTA would primarily benefit India. He cited several key details including greater market access, labour advantages, and potential mobility opportunities for Indian workers to underscore his point. Greer insisted that the agreement needed to be viewed in the context of shifting global trade dynamics under US President Donald Trump’s push to ‘prioritise domestic production’.
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“I’ve looked at some of the details of the deal so far. I think India comes out on top on this, frankly. They get more market access into Europe. It sounds like they (India) have some additional immigration rights. I don’t know for sure, but President (Ursula) von der Leyen of the EU has talked about mobility for Indian workers into Europe. So I think on net, India is going to have a heyday with this. They have low-cost labour,” he told Fox Business on Tuesday. |
