(INDIA) — European Council President António Costa held up his OCI Card on Tuesday during the India–EU summit in New Delhi, linking a sweeping trade and mobility agenda to his family’s Goan roots in a brief moment that diplomats and diaspora groups quickly seized on as a symbol of global Indian identity.
“I’m the President of the European Council, but I’m also an overseas Indian citizen. Then, as you can imagine, for me it has a special meaning. I’m very proud of my roots in Goa, where my father’s family came from, and the connection between Europe and India is something personal to me,”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen joined Costa at a joint press conference where he made the gesture.
The gesture, made as leaders marked the 16th India–EU Summit on January 27, 2026, came as India and the European Union concluded negotiations on a free trade agreement that officials described as a long-sought milestone and paired it with commitments on labour mobility.
Costa’s move put unusual focus on the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status at a forum dominated by tariffs, market access and migration pathways, and it framed the diplomatic choreography in personal terms as the EU leader publicly acknowledged his Indian heritage while standing alongside India’s prime minister and the bloc’s top executive.
The Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card is not dual citizenship, but it offers lifelong privileges to people of Indian origin who hold foreign citizenship, including lifelong visa-free travel to India and the right to live and work in the country without separate permits.
OCI holders have parity with NRIs in economic and educational matters and can own property in India except agricultural land, but they cannot vote, hold public office, or obtain an Indian passport.
Supporters of the programme say the status maintains a formal link to India for people of Indian origin abroad, while also serving as a channel for travel, education and business ties that stretch across generations.
For the European Union and India, leaders used Tuesday’s summit to argue that mobility and identity have become part of modern statecraft, as governments compete for skills, investment and political goodwill among diasporas.
A joint statement published by the European Commission described the meeting as the 16th EU-India Summit and set out the two sides’ broader agenda in trade, technology and mobility, in a document released as 16th EU-India Summit – New Delhi.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs separately published a roadmap-style joint statement titled India-EU Strategic Partnership: A Roadmap to 2030, reflecting New Delhi’s push to cast the relationship as a long-term strategic partnership.
At the centre of the summit’s commercial outcome stood what officials dubbed the “mother of all deals,” the India–EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) whose negotiations spanned nearly two decades since 2007.
Under the agreement, India will eliminate tariffs on 96.6% of EU exports, while the EU will remove duties on 99% of Indian goods, including textiles, engineering products, and pharmaceuticals.
Officials described the deal as creating a market of nearly 2 billion people, a formulation intended to underline the scale of the partnership and the political importance of landing an agreement after years of talks.
Alongside the trade package, the two sides signed a Mobility and Migration Partnership (MMP) that included commitments on work and study pathways, a sensitive topic in Europe and a longstanding priority for India as it seeks expanded routes for skilled labour and students.
EU member states committed to issuing up to 100,000 multi-year work permits annually to Indian nationals, while a dedicated quota of 35,000 graduate-track residence permits will be provided each year for Indian students and researchers.
India will launch a National Skills Passport to streamline the verification of professional qualifications, an initiative presented as a way to reduce friction for workers as they move across borders and seek recognition for their credentials.
Costa’s decision to showcase his OCI card at the India–EU summit added a cultural layer to the MMP as leaders attempted to fuse economic openness with managed migration, and as governments increasingly treat diaspora ties as instruments of diplomacy.
The moment also highlighted how a formal legal bond to India can coexist with leadership roles abroad, a point diaspora advocates often make when discussing identity, civic participation and international influence.
While the summit leaned heavily into mobility language, developments in the United States in January 2026 pointed in a different direction, with Washington’s immigration bureaucracy rolling out policy changes framed around security screening and tighter review processes.
A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services policy memorandum, PM-602-0194, dated January 1, 2026, directed staff to place a hold and review on pending benefit applications for certain foreign nationals from high-risk countries designated under Presidential Proclamation 10998.
“Effective immediately, this memorandum directs USCIS personnel to place a hold on all pending benefit applications. pending a comprehensive review, regardless of entry date.”
USCIS posted the document as Policy Memorandum PM-602-0194, setting out the agency’s approach in the opening days of 2026.
As of late January 2026, Indian nationals in the U.S. faced heightened vetting and travel restrictions under Proclamation 10998, with DHS-led expansion of travel restrictions applying sharper scrutiny to those outside the U.S. without valid visas as of January 1, 2026.
Separately, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued an interim final rule on January 14, 2026, reducing the foreign residency requirement for R-1 religious workers, a change DHS framed as support for President Trump’s Executive Order 14205.
“Under the leadership of Secretary Noem, DHS is committed to protecting and preserving freedom and expression of religion. we are taking the necessary steps to ensure religious organizations can continue delivering services.”
DHS published the announcement as DHS Reduces Wait Times for Religious Workers, placing the policy shift within a broader January package that mixed streamlined processing for one category with expanded scrutiny in others.
The contrast between the EU’s labour-mobility commitments and the U.S. “hold and review” directive underscored how migration policy has become a patchwork of openings and restrictions across major economies, even as leaders publicly celebrate mobility as an engine of growth.
For India’s large diaspora, that uneven landscape shapes decisions about where families study, work and invest, and it complicates the legal pathways that connect overseas Indians back to India through statuses such as the OCI Card.
In India’s case, OCI remains a formal mechanism designed to sustain ties with people of Indian origin who carry foreign passports, offering convenience and continuity without extending the rights of citizenship.
Costa’s public display of his Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) document placed that legal category at the centre of a diplomatic stage usually reserved for heads of government and policy declarations, and it highlighted how personal identity can intersect with treaty-making.
At a summit where tariffs on 96.6% of EU exports and duties on 99% of Indian goods drew the headlines, Costa’s brief, camera-facing moment suggested that the relationship’s human dimension also carries political weight in a partnership that leaders say they want to deepen through trade, technology, education and mobility.
European Council President Displays OCI Card at India–eu Summit
The 16th India–EU Summit concluded with a historic Free Trade Agreement and a new Mobility and Migration Partnership. European Council President António Costa used his personal OCI status to symbolize deepening ties. The agreements eliminate most tariffs and provide 100,000 work permits annually for Indians. This cooperation marks a strategic shift toward managed mobility, contrasting sharply with recent restrictive immigration policies enacted in the United States.
