00:00News coming in of a red carpet welcome that was accorded for the European Union Council President
00:06and also the European Union President. The European Union Council President
00:11has got the guard of honor as they land in India. They will be attending the Republic Day Parade
00:19as well as later on they will be working along with India on the mother of all deals which is
00:26the EU trade deal. Now joining us right now is India Today's Shivani Sharma. Shivani, we can see the
00:34visuals of the red carpet and of the guard of honor that was accorded to the two leaders. Tell us why
00:43is it important? Why are these two dignitaries extremely crucial for India right now? Anjali, this is an
00:51extremely important visit by the EU delegation to India. We know that there will be a free trade
00:58agreement that might be announced during this visit along with the other agreements on the defense and
01:04security strategic sphere. And today the European Council President when he reached India he was not
01:11only welcomed but he was accorded a guard of honor and a cultural welcome right at the airport station
01:17and Palam. And now he's all set to meet Dr. S. Jayashankar along with the other dignitaries who are
01:23already in India. The EU members, the leaders of the European Union, they are already in India. This
01:30happens to be a very important start of the delegations engagements, the engagements that begin today after
01:38their welcome. And tomorrow they will be at the Kantavya Path to witness the 77th Republic Day Parade,
01:45after which they are all set to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There will be bilateral talks between
01:51India and EU on various issues and spheres including trade, technology, defense, security. So it happens to be a
02:00very important visit indeed in terms of India's rebalancing and India's work in
02:06on economy with other nations along with working with the United States also because we know that
02:13there is a geopolitical churn that's going on especially when it comes to tariff and trade.
02:18So India is now working with EU on a big deal that has already been called the mother of all deals
02:24So we are looking forward to this particular meeting. Right absolutely Shivani do stay on with us
02:31as we delve a little bit deeper into this entire issue. Now amidst tariff war which has been initiated
02:38by Trump, the stage is set for as we are calling it and it's been called the mother of all deals. EU
02:45Chief Ursula von der Leyen is in India for crucial trade talks and we just saw her as she got the guard
02:51of honour. The EU council president is also in India and he also was part of that guard of honour and
02:59will hold a key meeting with the external affairs minister Jay Shankar shortly. Now the duo will
03:05witness the Republic Day Parade as chief guests, a rare honour that underscores the depth of India-EU
03:13relations. On January 27, the leaders will hold a crucial meeting with the Prime Minister and after
03:19which India and EU leaders will hold press briefings outlining outcomes on trade, technology, climate
03:26action and strategic cooperation. The Ministry of External Affairs has called this next phase of the
03:34India-EU strategic partnership based on trust and shared values. Earlier Ursula had said mother of all
03:43deals with India will create a market for 2 billion people in total or about one-fourth of the global GDP.
03:51As EU leadership gears up for the big trade deal, top Trump aides Scott Besant has praised India's
03:59compliance with US trade measures, noting India's collapse in Russian oil purchases and the possibility
04:07of rolling back the 25% tariff that were imposed on Indian goods.
Comments