{"id":20638,"date":"2026-08-31T21:01:54","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T21:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/31\/modi-expected-in-brussels-in-december-as-eu-india-trade-deal-awaits-signature-greek-city-times\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T21:01:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T21:01:54","slug":"modi-expected-in-brussels-in-december-as-eu-india-trade-deal-awaits-signature-greek-city-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/31\/modi-expected-in-brussels-in-december-as-eu-india-trade-deal-awaits-signature-greek-city-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Modi Expected in Brussels in December as EU-India Trade Deal Awaits Signature \u2013 Greek City Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-first=\"S\">\n<h4 dir=\"auto\">Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the European Council meeting in Brussels on 17\u201318 December, according to two officials familiar with the planning.<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"auto\">The trip has not been formally announced and could still shift, but one official said simply: \u201cWe are working on it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">The timing is not accidental. In January, India and the European Union finished negotiations on a free-trade agreement and signed a security and defence partnership during the 16th India-EU Summit in New Delhi.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">What remains is the political signature \u2014 the last step before member states can move the pact toward ratification. A Modi appearance at the Council\u2019s final scheduled meeting of 2026 would give leaders a high-profile moment to do it.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">The agreement would open markets covering about two billion people and more than a fifth of global GDP. EU governments have not yet given their collective backing, so the December window is an opportunity, not a guarantee. India\u2019s embassy in Brussels did not immediately comment when asked.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">If it happens, the visit would mark a visible next chapter after the January summit, when European Council President Ant\u00f3nio Costa and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen sat with Modi and described the trade package as a landmark partnership between two large democracies.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">READ MORE: <strong>Netanyahu: Greece-Israel Security Agreement Strengthens Eastern Mediterranean Alliance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<footer class=\"article-tags entry-footer\">\n<\/footer>\n<div class=\"category_container author-information\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<section id=\"authorpage\" class=\"authorpage\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/792d87e437bded8a0f0baa6f4e165be8909f7585ef4b5d08a417d94422955707?s=164&amp;r=g\" srcset=\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/792d87e437bded8a0f0baa6f4e165be8909f7585ef4b5d08a417d94422955707?s=328&amp;r=g 2x\" class=\"avatar avatar-164 photo lazyload\" height=\"164\" width=\"164\" decoding=\"async\"\/>\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"author-content\">\n<h5>Paul Antonopoulos<\/h5>\n<p>Paul Antonopoulos writes on Greek and international current affairs for Greek City Times, with a focus on Turkey, Cyprus, and the wider region.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/2026\/09\/01\/modi-expected-brussels-dec\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the European Council meeting in Brussels on 17\u201318 December, according to two officials familiar with the planning. The trip has not been formally announced and could still shift, but one official said simply: \u201cWe are working on it.\u201d The timing is not accidental. In January, India &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"Modi Expected in Brussels in December as EU-India Trade Deal Awaits Signature \u2013 Greek City Times\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/31\/modi-expected-in-brussels-in-december-as-eu-india-trade-deal-awaits-signature-greek-city-times\/#more-20638\" aria-label=\"Read more about Modi Expected in Brussels in December as EU-India Trade Deal Awaits Signature \u2013 Greek City Times\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20639,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/3.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20638\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}