Europe

Europe saw major strategic, tech, and climate developments. India signed key agreements with the UK (CETA, AI, CPTPP) and France (ITER, Rafale, AI Summits). Russia led BRICS events and defence exports. Ukraine, amid war, focused on diplomacy. Germany, Italy, and Spain deepened bilateral ties. EU expanded Schengen, tackled deforestation, AI, and marine waste. ESA launched major space missions. Europe pushed green tech, digital laws, and hosted global summits, affirming strategic importance for India.

United Kingdom

16th CETA (Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement)
- Between India & UK on 24 July 2025
- Bilateral trade $56 Billion (Services 33, Merchandise 23) - to double by 2030
- Eliminates 99% tariff (Nearly 100% trade value)
- Zero tariff (Earlier 70%) on Textiles, Leather, Marine & Processed foods
- Double Contribution Convention (Social Security Pact) removes dual social security pension
- Signed by Piyush Goyal & Jonathan Reynolds in presence of PM Modi & Kier Starmer (During PM Modi visit to UK)
- (India-UK Vision 2035 Roadmap unveiled)
AIM4NatuRe Initiative – launched by FAO & funded by the UK on ecosystem restoration
First European country to join CPTPP (Comprehensive & Progressive Agreement on Trans-Pacific Partnership)
Council of Europe’s Convention on AI – Signed by UK, US & EU at Vilnius, Lithuania
- No punitive sanctions; first legally binding international treaty on AI
First country to criminalise AI-generated child sexual abuse material
John McFall – First astronaut with disability for ISS Mission
Blaise Metreweli – Appointed as first female head of spy agency MI6 by PM Keir Starmer
First G-7 member to phase out coal-fired power generation after closing Ratcliffe-on-Soar
- UK Goal: Decarbonize electricity by 2030 & Net-Zero Emission by 2050
Third largest source of India’s remittances after the US & UAE
Securing Our Future Summit (2025 London Summit) – Starmer organised a draft peace plan for Ukraine
(Chagos Island – Covered in Mauritius)

France

Francois Bayrou – New French PM after Michel Barnier; 4th French PM in 2024
Tara Polar Mission – Scientific base in Cherbourg to study Arctic Ocean
Exercise Le Perouse 2025 – Multinational naval exercise hosted by France
- INS Mumbai (Guided Missile destroyer) participated
3rd AI Action Summit – Co-chaired by PM Modi & President Macron in Paris (Feb 2025)
- Supported India as host of its 4th summit
- 58 countries including India, China, European Commission signed statement on “Inclusive & Sustainable AI for People & Planet”
- US & UK did not sign
- France launched Coalition for Environmentally Sustainable AI with UNEP & ITU
- (Previous summits: Bletchley, UK, Seoul, South Korea)
ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor)
- PM Modi – first Head of State/Government to visit Cadarache, Southern France
- Nicknamed "The Way"; World's largest & most expensive experiment
- Members: India, China, Japan, S. Korea, Russia, US, EU
- EU contributes largest funding (45%)
Allowed Euthanasia (May 2025)
Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit 2025 – Paris
Macron received Olympic Order of Gold
Yug Yugeen Bharat Museum – India-France MoU to develop on lines of Louvre Museum, Paris
- World's largest museum once completed
White Hydrogen discovered in Moselle, France
- Zero-carbon emission; no industrial production required
Mini-Ministerial WTO Meeting in Paris – 25 members attended; Piyush Goyal represented India
Trajan – Artillery gun developed by India & France; export order from Armenia
26 Rafale Marine fighter jets for Indian Navy worth $7.4 Billion (₹63,000 crore)
Vulcain – World's largest dinosaur skeleton; auctioned in Paris; discovered in Wyoming, USA
World Skills Competition 2024 – Lyon
- Rajesh Sharma (Samastipur) – Medallion of Excellence in cabinet making (electrical equipment)
International Energy Efficiency Hub – India joined (BEE); HQ: Paris
Pavel Durov (Founder/CEO Telegram) – Arrested at Le Bourget Airport, Paris
Upendra Dwivedi honoured WW1 Indian soldiers at Neuve-Chapelle
Marseille – Modi-Macron inaugurated new consulate; PM Modi visited Mazargues War Cemetery
- Savarkar attempted escape from SS Morea Ship (linked to Nashik DM AMT Jackson murder)
PM Modi gifted Dokra artwork of Chhattisgarh to Macron
France – Second largest arms supplier to India after Russia

Russia

Kerch Strait – Declared federal emergency due to oil spill (15 Dec 2024)
- Connects Black Sea & Sea of Azov
- Separates Kerch Peninsula (Crimea) & Taman Peninsula (Russia)
- Regional emergency in Krasnodar, Southern Russia
Ottawa Convention – On anti-personnel landmines; Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia withdrew due to Russia threat
World's First Cancer Vaccine
- mRNA-based, treats existing patients (not preventive)
Eastern Economic Forum – Vladivostok
- Putin named India, China, Brazil as Ukraine crisis intermediaries
BRICS Labour & Employment Meeting – Sochi, Russia (Sept 2024)
16th BRICS Summit – Kazan (22–24 Oct 2024)
- Theme: “Strengthening multilateralism for equitable development & security”
BRICS Literature Forum 2024 – Kazan
- Theme: “World Literature in the New Reality”
Fined $20 Decillion on YouTube (Alphabet Inc.)
Rosatom shipped final (6th) unit of Kudankulam Nuclear Plant (Tirunelveli, TN)
Aryabhatt Satellite – 50th anniversary marked on 19 April 2025; India’s first satellite launched by Soviet Kosmos-3M from Kapustin Yar
Memorial plaque of Biju Patnaik inaugurated by Navin Patnaik & Alipov at Russian Embassy in Delhi (role in Battle of Stalingrad)
Sanjay Seth (MoS for Defence) represented India at 80th Victory Day in Moscow (9 May 2025)
Introduced 1% tourist tax on lodging
India to receive INS Tamal – stealth frigate from Russia
Russia to build 8 nuclear plants in Iran
First to officially recognise Taliban govt in Afghanistan
India – second largest supplier of restricted critical technologies to Russia (after China)
Young Scientists Forum of BRICS – held in Russia; 12 from India (incl. Abhinay Kumar Singh, IIT Patna)
Perm – Russia launched nuclear submarine with Zircon hypersonic cruise missile
Taurus missile – German-Swedish cruise missile (Putin warned Germany)
Igla-S air defense missiles – Received by Indian Army from Russia
Soyuz 2.1 spacecraft launched Iranian satellites: Koswar & Hodhod
India & Russia to jointly manufacture Pantsir air defence missile-gun system
Earth’s Magnetic North Pole shifting from Canada to Siberia – per World Magnetic Model

Ukraine

1000 for 1000 – Russia–Ukraine largest prisoner swap in 3 years; at Istanbul on 16 May 2025.
Largest arms importer (India 2nd); Highest military expenditure as % of GDP.
Chernobyl nuclear – 1986 explosion; currently part of Ukraine.
Rail Force One Train – Part of its Iron Diplomacy (Transport world leaders from Poland to Kyiv via train – Ex PM Modi); Blue & Yellow colour (flag colour).
Dragon Drones – Ukraine deployed advanced weapons made of aluminium & iron oxide.

Poland

First commercial consignment of India's first GI-tagged Fig Juice exported to Poland via Hamburg Port (Germany) – Purandar Fig of Maharashtra; APEDA facilitated.
Largest buyer of Gold in 2024 (RBI 2nd).

Belarus

Alexander Lukashenko – won the President election for the 7th time (President since 1994); "Last dictator of Europe".

Italy

Redrawan boundary with Switzerland in Alps due to melting glaciers.
75th International Astronautical Congress – Milan, Italy (October 2024); Theme – “Responsible Space over Sustainability”; Launched ESA Moonlight Programme to establish a Satellite network orbiting the Moon.
Javier Milei (Argentina President) – got Italian citizenship (Grandpa emigrated).
58th ADB Meeting – Milan; Finance Ministers of India & Italy to cooperate under 2025–29 Joint Action Plan.
Special Olympic Winter Games – Turin; India 33 Medals (including 8 Gold).
Pope Leo 14 – 267th Pope of Roman Catholic Church (Vatican City); elected as Robert Francis Provost of America.
Pope Francis (JM Bergoglio) – Head of Roman Catholic Church (died); first from Latin America or Southern Hemisphere (Argentina).
Antonio Tajani – Deputy PM & Foreign Minister (Visited India in April 2025).

Germany

No Money For Terror Conference at Munich (February 2025) – Nityanand Rai led Indian delegation.
Overtook Japan becoming world's largest lender.
Saiyami Kher – First Indian actress to complete a Triathlon in Berlin.
Friedrich Merz – New Chancellor replacing Olaf Scholz (after second round of voting in Parliament Bundestag).
India participated at 44th Codex Committee on Nutrition & Food for Special Dietary Uses in Dresden.

Portugal

City Key of Honour to President Droupadi Murmu by the Mayor of Lisbon (on her Portugal visit).

Spain

India & Spain declared 2026 as ‘Double Year’ – AI, Tourism, Cultural Cooperation.
Rodrigo Rato – Prisoned for corruption; Former IMF MD & Spain's Deputy PM.

Turkiye

The only country in the WHO European region yet to be certified Malaria-free (After Georgia declared Malaria-free).
Banned stray dogs.
Banned Instagram but reinstated.
Aviation Company Celebi – India banned.
India–Turkiye Friendship Association inaugurated in Hyderabad.

Greece

K Tassoulas – President (Former Speaker).
Costas Simitis (Passed Away) – Former PM & Architect of Greece joining Euro.
INIOCHOS 25 – Multinational Air Exercise in Greece; IAF participated.
Emergency due to Earthquake swarms.
Little Prespa Lake – dying; On Albania–Greece border (Majority portion in Greece).

Sweden

CEC Gyanesh Kumar addressed the International Conference of Institute for Democracy & Electoral Assistance in Stockholm.
To ban TV & Mobile screens for children below 2.
First in Glass-Ceiling Index 2025, surpassing Iceland.

Switzerland

European Sky Shield Initiative – Switzerland joined; German-led European Iron-Dome-style defence system founded after Ukraine invasion in 2022.
CoP to BRS Convention (Basel, Rotterdam, Stockholm) – Geneva; On hazardous chemicals & wastes; Theme – “Make Visible the invisible”.
149th Inter-Parliamentary Union at Geneva.
Best country in “Best Countries for 2024”.
Burqa ban from 1 January 2025.
Suspended India's MFN Status (Most Favoured Nation).
MoU with Indian Rail to cooperate on technical matters.

European Union

Schengen Zone
- Romania & Bulgaria joined the EU's Schengen Zone from January 1, 2025 (EU members since 2007) – free movement of people.
- Schengen is a small village in Luxembourg where the Schengen Agreement (1985) & Schengen Convention (1990) were signed.
- 29 Countries now (25/27 EU except Cyprus & Ireland + 4 Non-EU countries – Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway – Code: SILN).
- World's largest area without internal border controls.
India & EU adopted Hydrogen technology from marine plastic & garbage.
The European Commission proposed to extend EU Deforestation Regulation by one year (Products consumed in the EU do not cause deforestation anywhere in the world).
India & EU adopted a Two-Step Strategy to secure an Interim Trade Agreement aiming for a comprehensive FTA.
India & EU launched project to tackle marine plastic & develop waste-to-hydrogen technology.
HCL Tech signed EU’s AI Pact (First comprehensive legal framework on AI).
Operation Atlanta – EU naval operation on piracy primarily in Western Indian Ocean & Red Sea since 2008; Recently proposed joint Naval Exercise with Indian Navy.

MISCELLANEOUS

RISE Mission – by ESA in 2028 to reduce space debris.
European Red Admiral Butterfly – first time seen at Dhauladhar Mt, HP.
India-European Forum Business & Tech Council – 2nd Meeting in Delhi (2025); First Meeting in Brussels (2023).
Europe is warming twice as global average – Fastest warming continent 0.53°C per decade since 1990s (2024 Report).
India won 2 Silver & 2 Bronze at European Girls Maths Olympiad 2025 in Prishtina, Kosovo.
Ursula Von der Leyen (President of European Commission) visited India on 27–28 February 2025. (Her 3rd visit to India).
International Conference on Green Hydrogen 2024 – PM Modi inaugurated at Delhi; India was Exclusive partner of European Hydrogen Week in Brussels (Belgium).
EnVision Mission – to study Venus by the European Space Agency with help from NASA.
Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by European Parliament to Venezuela opposition leaders MC Machado & Edmundo Gonzalez.
6th European Political Community Summit (16 May 2025) – Tirana (Albania) – first time in West Balkan region; Theme – “A new Europe in a New World” (7th EPC Summit to be in Denmark on 02 October 2025).
The Euclid Space Mission of ESA spotted an Einstein Ring in galaxy NGC 6505.
Gaia Mission – ESA space observatory to create 3D Map of Milky Way.
Council of Europe (In news) – Estd 1949; HQ Strasbourg, France; 46 Members currently; Europe’s largest & oldest intergovernmental organisation; death-penalty free zone.
“Donkey Route” (Dunki) – migrants' illegal journey to Europe or US for jobs; often involves multiple countries.
“Coalition of the Willing Summit” – To negotiate with Russia for Ukraine; French Macron & Britain’s Starmer took the lead; Various rounds took place at Paris, London, Rome etc.
Eurodrone Programme – India joined as Observer; Four Nation initiative (France, Italy, Germany, Spain – FIGS).