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India-EU FTA, other pacts to open countless opportunities for youth: PM Modi
"This is not just a trade agreement. This is a new blueprint for shared prosperity," Modi said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the free trade agreements which India has signed with several countries and the "historic" FTA agreed upon between India and the European Union in Delhi a day ago will open countless opportunities for lakhs of Indian youths.
Addressing a gathering at the annual National Cadet Corps PM Rally at Delhi Cantonment here, the prime minister also said the entire world is looking at India's youth with a "lot of trust" and the reason behind that trust is "skill and 'sanskar' (culture)".
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"I had addressed from the Red Fort that 'Yahi samay hai, sahi samay hai' (this is the time, this is the right time). For the country's youth, it is a time for maximum opportunities," Modi said.
He asserted that it is the government's effort to ensure that youths get "more and more benefits" of this time period.
"One example you saw yesterday only. India and the European Union (EU) agreed upon a historic free trade agreement. Before this, India has done FTAs with Oman, New Zealand, Britain, the UAE, Australia, and countries like Mauritius. All these agreements are going to open countless opportunities for lakhs of our youths," the prime minister said.
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India and the EU on Tuesday sealed a landmark free trade agreement, billed as the "mother of all deals", to create a market of two billion people with Prime Minister Modi and the top EU leadership unveiling a transformative five-year agenda to largely leverage trade and defence in protecting the rules-based world order.
The two sides also inked two crucial pacts, one on security and defence collaboration and another on mobility of Indian talents to Europe, after Modi hosted EU leaders Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa for summit talks amid frosty ties with the US.
"This is not just a trade agreement. This is a new blueprint for shared prosperity," Modi said on Tuesday.
The FTA that will account for almost a quarter of the global GDP will reduce tariffs on 99 per cent of Indian exports to the EU and cut duties on over 97 per cent of the EU's exports to India, according to officials.
The National Cadet Corps' (NCC) PM Rally was held at the Cariappa Parade Ground.
In his address, the prime minister also said the NCC, as an organisation and as a movement, fills India's youth power with "self-confidence" and makes them disciplined and sensitive citizens who are dedicated to the nation.
"The entire world is looking at youth with a lot of trust and the reason behind that trust is skill and 'sanskar' (culture). India's youth possess a culture of democracy, a sense of respect for diversity and an ethos of treating the world as one family," he said.
The theme of the NCC PM Rally is 'Rashtra Pratham - Kartavya Nishth Yuva', reflecting the spirit of duty, discipline and national commitment among India's youth.
The rally marks the grand culmination of the NCC Republic Day Camp 2026, which was formally inaugurated on January 5 by Vice President C P Radhakrishnan.
