European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen visited India in February this year.
Defense is an important area of the collaboration between India and the European Union, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday (March 21, 2025) as it highlighted the growing partnership between the two sides.

“We had a wonderful visit from the President of the European Union to India. Defense is an important area of collaboration with the European Union for us, and this partnership is expanding on our side,” MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at the weekly media briefing in New Delhi on Friday (March 21, 2025).

He explained that India wanted to give a boost to defense exports. “We hope that we will be able to do more in this regard with the European Union and countries in Europe as well,” the MEA Spokesperson remarked in response to a question. 

During her visit to India last month, European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen signalled the intent to take the EU-India Strategic Partnership to the next level as she announced the possibility of a Security and Defence Partnership with India.

“We are exploring a future Security and Defence Partnership with India in the mould of the partnerships we have with Japan and South Korea,” she stated during her address at an event organised by a think tank in New Delhi on February 28, 2025. 

“This will help us step up our work to counter common threats whether on cross-border terrorism, maritime security threats, cyber-attacks or the new phenomenon we see: attacks on our critical infrastructure,” explained Ursula Von Der Leyen, who was visiting India with the European Union College of Commissioners.

This also found an echo in the Leaders' Statement issued after a meeting between the visiting European Commission President and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which said they committed to explore a security and defence partnership.

The European Commission President also highlighted India's interest in joining defence industrial projects under the EU's Permanent Structured Cooperation. “India is working hard to diversify its military supply and to access new capabilities. And I believe we can help each other to deliver on our security objectives,” she said.