The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said Tuesday that the European Union (EU) is “on the cusp” of signing a trade deal with India, giving the 27-member bloc the “first mover advantage”.

This comes as India’s long-pending trade deal with the US remains uncertain, and in the backdrop of renewed US threats of high tariffs on the EU over Greenland and a 50 per cent duty on Indian goods since August last year.

“Right after Davos, next weekend, I will travel to India. There’s still work to do, but we are on the cusp of a historic trade agreement. 
Indeed, some call it the mother of all deals. One that would create a market of two billion people, accounting for almost a quarter of global GDP, and crucially, that would provide a first mover advantage for Europe with one of the world’s fastest growing and most dynamic continents,” she said in a speech at Davos.