New Delhi, Jan 20 (.) India and the European union (EU) are on the ‘’cusp’’ of signing the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen said on Tuesday, describing it as the ‘’mother of all agreements.’’

In her address at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, she said that after Davos, the next weekend, she will travel to India. She, however, said there is still work to do.

‘’And right after Davos, the next weekend, I will travel to India. There is still work to do, but we are on the cusp of a historic trade agreement. Indeed, some call it the mother of all deals,’’ she said, adding that it would create a market of two billion people, accounting for almost a quarter of global GDP.

That would provide a ‘first-mover advantage’ for Europe with one of the world’s fastest-growing dynamic continents.

She said Europe wants to do business with the growth centres of today and the economic powerhouses of the century, from Latin America to Indo-Pacific and far beyond.

She said the EU is working on a new FTA with Australia. Europe is also advancing with the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and more.

‘’Europe will also choose the world. And the world is also ready to choose Europe,’ she added.

European Council President Antonio Costa and von der Leyen will be chief guests at the Republic Day celebrations before jointly co-chairing the India-EU Summit. The FTA is slated to be signed the next day, i.e. January 27.

. RB 1854