4 min readNew DelhiJan 28, 2026 07:28 AM IST
First published on: Jan 28, 2026 at 05:45 AM IST
In a new framework to facilitate movement of people, India and the European Union have signed a mobility pact aimed at easing the movement of Indian students, workers and professionals across 27 EU member countries.
This comes at a time when the US is making H1-B and other visa routes for Indian citizens more expensive, stricter.
Under the new framework for mobility, the EU has committed to “an uncapped mobility for Indian students”, according to officials, allowing Indians greater ease to travel, study and work across EU states. There are already around 1.20 lakh Indian students across the EU, with Germany clocking in around 50,000, making Indian students the largest group of international students in the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “More than 800,000 Indians are living and actively contributing to the countries of the European Union.”
The joint statement said that the leaders highlighted that education and people‑to‑people ties have emerged as vital enablers of the India‑EU Strategic Partnership. They welcomed the conclusion of the India‑EU Comprehensive Framework of Cooperation on Mobility, in line with the national competences of EU Member States and India and domestic legislation of both parties.
They commended the launch of the first pilot European Legal Gateway Office, as a one‑stop hub to provide information and support the movement of workers, starting with the ICT sector.
“They reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing collaboration on safe, regular and orderly migration, including through circular pathways, for highly skilled workers, students, researchers, and seasonal workers in shortage occupations, whilst also strengthening cooperation on countering irregular migration, in accordance with national competences and the law of both parties,” it said.
The Comprehensive Framework on Cooperation on Mobility, was signed by Maros Sefcovic, European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, in the presence of Prime Minister Modi, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio da Costa, at the 16th India-EU Summit in New Delhi Tuesday.
Besides students and workers, the pact also opens the door for Indian researchers, being seen as a gateway for Indian talent to contribute to emerging technological fields, including artificial intelligence.
“Artificial intelligence is one of the best examples. So today, I am glad to announce that we are working on India’s association with Horizon Europe. Horizon is the world’s largest public research programme, and I can’t wait for our best talents to get to work, to advance health, clean energy, frontier technologies. This will help researchers and start-ups, next generation technology,” von der Leyen said.
“Signing an agreement on mobility, we will facilitate the movement of students, researchers. It will be a one-stop hub to support Indian talent, moving to Europe in full alignment with your Member States’ needs and policies.”
The pact, she said, will “reduce strategic dependencies”, “bringing together Indian skills, services and scale, with European technology, capital and innovation”. It will create levels of growth that neither side can achieve alone, she said.
Europe has a problem of a shrinking workforce, with projections saying that the working-age population will fall by six million between 2025 and 2030. The new pact will make pathways portable for Indian engineers, care workers and nurses, and hospitality staff and drivers.
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