Indian Ambassador Ashish Sinha has stated that the bilateral relationship is improving and that Estonia might serve as India's entry point to northern European markets after the free trade agreement with the EU takes effect.
In an interview with PTI, Sinha stated that when the India-EU free trade agreement goes into effect, the strong foundation of current commerce will serve as a "springboard" for future interaction between Estonia and India.
The entire bilateral relationship is growing stronger, according to the Indian ambassador to Estonia.Small and medium-sized businesses will participate much more in the future thanks to the India-EU Free Trade Agreement, and Estonian dairy and agricultural products will find a market in India.Estonia will serve as a gateway to northern Europe for India, Sinha said PTI.

About 5,000 Indians are involved in the Estonian project, and several Indian businessmen and high-value industrialists have taken advantage of Estonia's e-residency program, according to Sinha.
"About over 1,000 Indians have their companies registered under the e-residency programme of Estonia," he said.Therefore, there are components that serve as a foundation for future involvement once the India-EU Free Trade Agreement comes into effect. The Indian envoy stated, "I must tell you that in the last fiscal year, Indian exports to Estonia not only increased but exceeded their target."
According to him, a significant portion of the business will be made up of new and developing technology.When asked about India's stance on regional security in light of the situation between Russia and Ukraine, he responded that "we support international peace and security" because both Estonia and India are democracies with pluralistic principles, respect for international law, and a desire to develop.
"In that regard, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first leaders to declare that we are living in a time of discussion and diplomacy rather than war when he visited both Moscow and Kyiv in 2024. Sinha remarked, "I'm sure Estonia wants peace in its neighbourhood, and we both have similar goals there.As an ambassador, it is my responsibility to explain India's stance to Estonia and provide updates on Estonia's stance to India," he stated.

"The Estonian embassy in Delhi has been operational since 2011. Prior to establishing our mission here in 2021, we operated out of Helsinki. The relationship is improving, and we have improved and grown stronger in practically every area of involvement," Sinha stated.

He said that last year, at about the same time, Prime Minister Modi and President Alar Karis had met on the fringes of the AI summit in Paris. In February of this year, Estonian President Karis travelled to India for the AI summit.
President Karis met with President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Modi during his visit to talk about bilateral cooperation, he added."Apart from the engagements at the highest level, we also had the latest round of political consultations between the foreign ministries of the two countries, from the Indian side it was led by Secretary West Sibi George, and this enabled the overall review of the relationship in each area of engagement," the Indian ambassador said.Additionally, we recently erected a statue of Gandhi in Tallinn. He stated, "There are 2,000 Indians who remain here and work in the digital and technology sector, doing very well for themselves. Many of them go on to become entrepreneurs and enter the startup space as well."

Accordingly, the bond is becoming stronger overall, according to Sinha.
He stated that although Estonia is a small nation with a population of 1.3 million, its membership in the EU gives Indian goods access to larger EU markets, therefore Indian entrepreneurs should not be discouraged by this.We have been able to persuade some of the businessmen who have established their enterprises here, and it has a very good system and strong ports from which they can serve surrounding nations," he stated.
Businesses are arriving, he said, particularly in the tech and even commodity sectors; there have been new initiatives to explore the rich northern European market through Estonia.

The "mother of all deals," a free trade agreement that will allow 93% of Indian shipments to enter the 27-nation bloc duty-free and lower the cost of importing luxury cars and wines from the EU, was announced by India and the EU on January 27 of this year.
A market of over 2 billion people will be created by the agreement, which was reached after almost 20 years of discussions.