'EU FTA Not Only For Make In India, But Make With Europe and India': Swedish Envoy At Rising Bharat

Last Updated:February 27, 2026, 20:01 IST

The Swedish envoy said the India-EU free trade agreement should be seen as more than a trade deal because it is a broader signal of growing together

Swedish ambassador to India Jan Thesleff on Friday lauded the India-EU free trade agreement, which took place earlier this year, and said it sends out a signal to the world for not only “make in India, but make with India and Europe".

Thesleff said the India-EU free trade agreement (FTA) should be seen as more than a trade deal because it is a broader signal of growing together.

“We should not only see it as a trade agreement, even though we call it the FTA because it’s a signal when it comes to investment, a signal when it comes to engaging with one another, a signal to develop together – not only make in India but make with India, make with Europe," Thesleff said during the session on ‘Mothering a Partnership: The India-EU Power Couple’ at the News18 Rising Bharat Summit. 

He said the India-EU FTA covers almost 97 percent goods traded between the both sides. Talking about how it will benefit Sweden, he said it is for those for whom the barriers were earlier too high or the entrance ticket too expensive.

“With the free trade agreement, with what it brings, you lower the barriers and I think that’s why we will see big growth and change. SMEs, middle-sized companies – those are the ones that create the jobs, those are the ones that create growth. We’ll see it in India and for sure see it in Sweden," he added.

‘WON’T BE SO SURE INDIA-US TRADE DEAL IS FATHER OF ALL DEALS’

The India-EU free trade agreement (FTA), dubbed the “mother of all deals" by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, was followed up by the India-US trade deal that was described as the “father of all deals". The difference, however, is that the India-EU FTA was extremely comprehensive representing one-fourth of the global economy.

This was better elaborated by German ambassador to India Dr Philipp Ackermann, who said the major difference between India’s deals with European Union and the United States is that the former is an FTA. This shows, he said, that both sides in the agreement are “believers and promoters of free trade".

“I’d like to say that the difference between the trade deals with the United States and Europe is that the deal with US is not a free trade deal whereas with Europe you have a free trade deal and I think that commitment, the conviction that you are promoters and believers in free trade," Ackermann said, when asked how he rates the FTA with India at a time when the EU’s relations with the US have deteriorated.

He said the India-EU FTA cannot be underestimated as it brings together an “enormous market" of 450 million Europeans and 1.4 billion Indians.

“This is, you know, a clear signal to the world, a message to the world that we are the promoters of and believers in free trade. And, therefore, the mother of all deals…it is not wrong but the deal with the US is the father of all deals, I would not be so sure," he added.

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