{"id":55802,"date":"2026-01-12T04:58:04","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T09:58:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/merz-hopes-eu-india-trade-agreement-can-be-signed-at-january-summit\/12\/01\/2026\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T04:58:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T09:58:04","slug":"merz-hopes-eu-india-trade-agreement-can-be-signed-at-january-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/merz-hopes-eu-india-trade-agreement-can-be-signed-at-january-summit\/12\/01\/2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Merz hopes EU-India trade agreement can be signed at January summit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday that he hopes an EU free trade agreement with India can be signed at a summit on January 27, as it is needed to unlock the full potential of economic relations between Germany and India.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;We must not and do not want to leave this opportunity unused,&#8221; the chancellor said, after talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Ant\u00f3nio Costa plan to travel to the Indian capital New Delhi at the end of January and, if possible, sign the agreement there.<\/p>\n<div class=\"max-md:faux-bleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\">\n<div class=\"flex ad-container\" id=\"_R_l1p56mhek5clubsnm6jbH1_\">\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<style type=\"text\/css\"><![CDATA[#_R_l1p56mhek5clubsnm6jbH1_ { display: none; }\n@media screen and (max-width: 767.95px) {\n        #_R_l1p56mhek5clubsnm6jbH1_ { display: flex; }\n        iframe { max-width: 100vw; }\n      }]]><\/style>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 hidden pb-5 md:block\">\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\">\n<div class=\"flex ad-container\" id=\"_R_151p56mhek5clubsnm6jbH1_\">\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<style type=\"text\/css\"><![CDATA[#_R_151p56mhek5clubsnm6jbH1_ { display: none; }\n@media screen and (min-width: 768px) {\n        #_R_151p56mhek5clubsnm6jbH1_ { display: flex; }\n        iframe { max-width: 100vw; }\n      }]]><\/style>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Sources close to the chancellor described the chances of success as good. Merz called it an &#8220;encouraging sign&#8221; that an agreement on the deal with four Latin American Mercosur states had been reached just last week, after more than a quarter of a century of negotiations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Talks on the EU-India agreement began 18 years ago.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>India&#8217;s Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) and Germany&#8217;s Chancellor Friedrich Merz visit a kite festival during Merz&#8217;s first major trip to Asia since taking office in May. Kay Nietfeld\/dpa<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz (L) at the Gandhi Ashram, a memorial dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi, marking Merz's first major trip to Asia since taking office. Kay Nietfeld\/dpa\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/0qKhkuBZ6xI_ATqueloJDw--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/dpa_international_526\/52d1ad0498ad5ac75108a173a87356e1\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>India&#8217;s Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes Germany&#8217;s Chancellor Friedrich Merz (L) at the Gandhi Ashram, a memorial dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi, marking Merz&#8217;s first major trip to Asia since taking office. Kay Nietfeld\/dpa<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/articles\/merz-hopes-eu-india-trade-092827571.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday that he hopes an EU free trade agreement with India can be signed at a<br \/><button class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/merz-hopes-eu-india-trade-agreement-can-be-signed-at-january-summit\/12\/01\/2026\/\">Read More &rsaquo;<\/a><\/button><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/en\/dpa_international_526\/691e215c017c1d3e9a7dc16130b8170a","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55802"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}