NEW DELHI - The leaders of India and the European Union will announce the "mother of all deals" on Tuesday when they meet in New Delhi to formalise a huge trade pact reached after two decades of negotiations.
EU chiefs and Prime Minister Narendra Modi hope the pact, which Indian officials said was concluded on Monday, will help shield against challenges from the world’s two leading economies, the United States and China.
"Official level negotiations are being concluded and both sides are all set to announce the successful conclusion" of talks at the Tuesday summit, Indian commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal told AFP late Monday.
Feted Monday as guests of honour at India's Republic Day parade, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa are set to meet Modi late Tuesday morning.
The EU has eyed India -- the world's most populous nation -- as an important market for the future, while New Delhi sees the European bloc as an important source of much-needed technology and investment to rapidly upscale its infrastructure and create millions of new jobs.