India and EU announce the 'mother of all trade deals'
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 27 January 2026
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The European Commission president Ursula Von Der Leyen has celebrated the signing of a trade agreement with India, saying it sent a message that international cooperation could still work. The remarks have been taken as a dig at President Trump - with the agreement itself partially the result of Europe seeking trade partners beyond the United States. Tariffs will gradually be eliminated, raising expectations of an increase in volumes traded. The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the deal would strengthen stability in the international system.
Also in the programme: News from Iran in the wake of the state's violent crackdown on demonstrations there- doctors and nurses who cared for injured protesters are now being arrested. We also look at The Planets by the English composer Gustav Holst. It was first heard a century ago and is being reworked to address what is happening with the planet now.
(Photo: President of the European Commission Ursula Von Der Leyen +President of the European Council Antonio Luis Santos da Costa pose for photographs with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi New Delhi - 27 Jan 2026. Credit: Rajat Gupta /EPA/Shutterstock)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.8 | Hello and welcome to NewsHour from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:13.6 | Coming to you live from London, I'm Celia Hatton. |
| 0:16.6 | We're starting today with news of a mammoth trade deal between the European Union and India |
| 0:22.1 | that could transform swathes of the global economy. And it's been a long time coming. |
| 0:27.7 | A final agreement was settled after 20 years of talks. Those involved say all that work was worth |
| 0:34.2 | it. India has the world's biggest population and combined with the European |
| 0:38.5 | bloc's 27 countries, the deal forms a new trading zone affecting 2 billion people. The European |
| 0:45.9 | Commission President Ursula von der Leyen marked the magnitude of the deal. We did it. We delivered |
| 0:53.0 | the mother of all deals. We are creating a market of 2 billion people, |
| 0:59.2 | and this is the tale of two giants, the world's second and fourth largest economies, two giants |
| 1:06.2 | who choose partnership in a true win-win fashion. |
| 1:16.0 | A strong message that cooperation is the best answer to global challenges. |
| 1:19.9 | And the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, celebrated too. |
| 1:21.7 | Here he is speaking through a translator. |
| 1:34.3 | Friends, today, India has concluded the largest ever free trade agreement in its history. This historic agreement will make access to the European markets easier for our farmers and small businesses. It will create new opportunities in manufacturing |
| 1:47.5 | and will further strengthen cooperation between our service sectors. Well, the timing of this deal |
| 1:55.7 | is key too. India had been pushing towards a trade deal with the United States, as had the EU. |
| 2:03.4 | But both of those agreements are on ice for now as the Trump administration reworks its foreign ties. |
| 2:10.1 | So it makes sense that Delhi and Brussels turn towards each other. |
| 2:14.5 | In a moment, we'll hear from an Indian career diplomat and trade commissioner |
| 2:18.3 | to ask if this new partnership will extend beyond this moment in time. But for now, I've |
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