The EU-India free trade agreement unveils the emerging silhouette of a post-US world order amid relentless threats to territorial sovereignty, punitive tariffs and the weakening of multilateral institutions. The trade deal is the largest of its kind but is also part of a growing trend as many nations attempt to forge new alliances. Brussels recently concluded a trade deal with the South American Mercosur trade bloc, with several more in the pipeline; India has made agreements with the UK and New Zealand in the last few months alone. The world many outside the west have long dreamed about – of multipolarity, strategic autonomy, even de-dollarisation – is taking shape, first slowly and now rapidly. The emerging pictures were a world removed from the gloom that has overtaken the European mood in recent months.