EU and India to step up defense and security cooperation, says EU special envoy

Brussels: The European Union’s defense and security cooperation with India in the Indo-Pacific region should intensify amid a deteriorating security environment in the region, said envoy Richard Tibbels special group for the Indo-Pacific.

“The EU has a clear interest in an Indo-Pacific region where sovereign, independent countries have the strength to protect their national interests, without any coercion,” Tibbels said. Mint.

“As the world faces major geopolitical inflection points, we view India as a key partner in implementing the EU Indo-Pacific Strategy. This is also reflected in the EU Strategic Compass 2022, in which India is specifically mentioned.

We have already stepped up our security cooperation in recent years with a first joint naval exercise in the Gulf of Guinea and India also participated in an exercise with the EU’s Operation Atalanta in the northwest of the “Indian Ocean,” Tibbels added.

In recent years, India and the EU have launched joint maritime exercises, notably in the Gulf of Guinea and the northwest Indian Ocean. The two sides have engaged in a number of dialogues on defense and security.

The group of 27 countries also launched a number of projects aimed at improving security cooperation with Indo-Pacific countries. The EU CRIMARIO project focuses on improving maritime domain awareness capabilities for countries in the Indo-Pacific.

The EU-funded Enhancing Security in and with Asia (ESIWA) program strengthens cooperation on cybersecurity, counter-terrorism and maritime security. India is working with the EU on this program.

“You will likely see an increase in EU security and defense cooperation with India and greater engagement in the Indo-Pacific region,” Tibbels said. A key aspect of this cooperation will concern the area of ​​space security.

“Cooperation on space security issues should certainly also be explored between India and the EU, as we both have important stakes in the space domain,” he added. The EU has launched a space strategy for security and defense in 2023.

India and the EU elevated their relationship to the level of a strategic partnership in 2004. Only recently has defense and security become a key part of the agenda.

For example, the EU and India published a joint roadmap until 2025 during a meeting in 2020. The roadmap commits to strengthening military relations, cooperation on cybersecurity, fight against piracy, peacekeeping, nuclear proliferation and disarmament.

This has become particularly important as the regional security order in the Indo-Pacific region begins to crumble.

“The Indo-Pacific is experiencing intense geopolitical competition and growing tensions in the South and East China Seas, the Taiwan Strait, not to mention actions by the DPRK (North Korea) that undermine the Non-Proliferation Treaty nuclear power and border disputes. between India and China. The stability of the region is also threatened by attempts at economic coercion, disinformation and malicious actions in the cyber domain,” Tibbels said.

“What is important for the EU is that economic relations are fair, that aggressive speeches and military exercises are avoided and that the United Nations Charter and international law, notably UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the law of the sea) are respected. , must be respected,” he added.