India and the European Union have agreed to finalize a long-pending free trade agreement this year and boost cooperation in trade, technology, connectivity and defense.

India and the European Union will try to seal a trade deal during this year, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday.

India and the EU must take their strategic ties to the "next level" in an era of great power competition and geopolitical turmoils and the relationship has the potential to be one of the defining partnerships of this century,

Highlighting the need to bolster cooperation between new Delhi and Brussels in the areas of digital technology, Artificial Intelligence and defence, EU President Ursula von der Leyen termed India as a "pillar of certainty" for Europe in an "increasingly uncertain world".

In a significant diplomatic push, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Friday that the European Union is exploring a Security and Defence Partnership with India—a move that could reshape India-EU relations in the years to come.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the EU and India have agreed to push to get a long pending free trade agreement done this year

Von der Leyen is in India with 22 members of the 27-strong EU College of Commissioners for the first such visit to a non-European nation since she got a fresh mandate last year

India will finalise a "mutually beneficial" free trade deal with the European Union by the end of this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Friday after meeting with EU chief