European Booster Shot

Context: With its economic weight, technological strength and normative power, the EU promises to enhance India’s quest for a multipolar world, rebalanced Indo-Pacific.

Historical Background of India-EU Ties

• Divided cold War Era: A divided East/West Europe distorted India’s perspective of the region.
  • As India was tilted to Soviet Union during Cold War, India developed a political prickliness towards the western part of Europe and took the East for granted.
• Neglect phase post-cold war: As Europe was remoulded into a collective Union, India shifted its diplomatic priorities by salvaging a relationship with post-Soviet Russia, normalising relations with China, connecting with the US, and managing a more troubled relationship with nuclear Pakistan.
  • This left little diplomatic bandwidth in Delhi to think strategically about Europe.
• Revamped interest in recent past: India is now focused on developing a strong partnership with Brussels and engage all its 27 members — big and small — individually.
  • EU outlined a strategy for India in 2018, focusing on four themes, sustainable economic modernisation, promotion of a rules-based order, foreign policy coordination, and security cooperation.

Significance of deepening India-EU ties

• Scope for wide range of smaller partnerships: Eg. Green partnership with Denmark, financial ties with Luxembourg, Optoelectronics ties with Czechia etc.
• Scope for rebalancing in Indo-Pacific: EU’s approach to Indo-Pacific “seeks to promote an open and rules-based regional security architecture, including secure sea lines of communication, capacity-building and enhanced naval presence in the Indo-Pacific”.
  • EU can play a critical role in Indo-Pacific as EU is viewed as the most trusted partner in the region.
  • EU vision is totally line with India’s aspirations in Indo-Pacific: Thus, the partnership could significantly boost India’s capacity to influence future outcomes in the Indo-Pacific.
• Counter balancing China: EU and India agreed to resume free trade talks and develop a new connectivity partnership that would widen options for the world beyond the Belt and Road Initiative.
  • There is a recognition in both India and Europe that the India-EU strategic partnership is crucial for the rebalancing of the international system amidst the current global flux.
• Scope for stepping up security cooperation: EU strategy sees room for working with the Quad in the Indo-Pacific, while stepping up security cooperation with a number of Asian partners, including India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Vietnam.