New Delhi, Oct. 13 -- External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said that the India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) would open up an enormous and mature market with significant purchasing power for India, expressing hope that the agreement would enter into force by the end of this year or early next year.

Speaking in a conversation with John Micklethwait, Editor-in-Chief at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Delhi, Jaishankar described 2026 as the "Europe Year" for India, highlighting the significance of the trade agreement and the growing engagement between New Delhi and Brussels.

"This year in many ways has been the 'Europe Year.' And the reason is, we had the European Commission and Council Presidents for our Nation...