Statement by President von der Leyen with Swedish Prime Minister Kristersson and Indian Prime Minister Modi

Dear Prime Minister Kristersson, dear Ulf,

Thank you for inviting me to join you here in beautiful Göteborg – one of the Nordic region's great trading and industrial hubs.

And please allow me to join you in extending the warmest of European welcomes to you, Prime Minister Modi, dear Narendra.

It has been only a few months since you hosted me in New Delhi, for our groundbreaking EU-India Summit. We succeeded in concluding our landmark trade agreement, the mother of all deals. Just look at some of the figures: A shared market of over 2 billion people – that is close to one-quarter of global GDP. Over 90% of tariffs cuts. Enormous opportunity to grow trade and investment. From here in Gothenburg, Scandinavia's largest trading port, to Mundra Port in your home state of Gujarat. And in so doing, create jobs and prosperity for our people.

There is no time to lose in turning this opportunity into reality. That is why we are committed to signing the agreement by the end of the year and making it fully operational at record speed. I am also pleased to announce that we will mark this moment with a large-scale business event for European and Indian companies. The aim is simple: we are going to give business the information and guidance it needs, to start benefitting from the deal from day one on.

But trade is only half the equation. Our next step must be to deliver an investment agreement. This is the missing piece of the puzzle in our reinforced economic cooperation, especially in a world where supply chains are being reshaped, and economic security challenges us as never before. Deepening our investment ties will help us to de-risk and diversify.

Basically, one can say that the trade agreement opened the door. An investment agreement walks us through it. And from that foundation, Member States like Sweden can build stronger bilateral ties with India. Your new strategic partnership is proof of this, as you just mentioned, dear Ulf. And this is exactly how it should be. The commitment to double economic exchanges between your two countries in the next five years – this is the ambition Europe needs. I hope that other Member States will follow Sweden's good example.

In January, we not only signed the mother of all deals, we also moved closer on security and defence, on which we signed our partnership. And with the first EU-India Security and Defence Dialogue in New Delhi, we continue to deepen that cooperation, particularly on maritime security, where we will hold joint EU-India naval exercises. We will also work together in countering cyberthreats, protecting our critical infrastructure, and by generally increasing our information-sharing. Our cooperation can help bring stability to an unstable world and provide security to our citizens.

Prime Ministers,

Dear Ulf,

Dear Narendra,

Today you have talked about the importance of working together in the emerging technologies space. Our EU-India Trade and Technology Council is already showing the way forward. Under its umbrella, we are aligning our AI governance, we are working together on semiconductors, we are strengthening the resilience of our supply chains, and we are ensuring interoperability between our digital systems. We will discuss these topics at the next meeting in July.

And as you said, Ulf, we are shooting for the stars, as we work to explore new frontiers in our EU-India Space Dialogue. Again, Sweden is showing the way as the home of mainland Europe's only space base. And India is already shooting for the moon, with your successful landing there. Our work together in space will help strengthen not only our security but of course also our prosperity. All in all, this dynamic new era in EU-India relations opens up historic opportunities. And we are determined to seize them.

Many thanks.

Photo by © European Union, 2026, Wikimedia commons.