As president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen arrives in New Delhi Later this week later with a delegation of commissioners, Europe and India meet at a time of strategic recalibration. Donald Trump’s return to power in Washington has created a crisis in transatlantic relations, forcing Brussels to seek new geopolitical partnerships. Although India’s links with the United States are in better shape, it also seeks renewed relationships elsewhere to cover itself against a newly capricious America. It is difficult to imagine a better time to relive the historically dull links of Europe and India.
The decision to bring almost all European commissioners to Delhi to meet their Indian counterparts sends a clear signal to the European Union’s desire to strengthen and expand links with India in a moment of global uncertainty. For the EU, India’s size and economic growth have long made it an attractive partner. But so far, attempts to strengthen links have been hampered by bureaucratic inertia on both sides as well as a lack of clear strategic justification.
However, because he seeks to alleviate the damage caused by the new Trump administration, Brussels has now urgent to establish alternative geopolitical relations. Von der leyen does unusually conciliatory noises About China in Davos in January, for example, noting that Europe should “aim for mutual benefits” in its conversation with Beijing. However, at the base, China remains an important strategic challenge for Europe. Build stronger links with India – a democracy with growing global influence – offer both a greater economic opportunity and a political attraction.
India leadership must now also tackle a new complex and unpredictable era in American policy in which it cannot be entirely certain that the links between Washington and New Delhi will continue as they were
India also sees advantages in narrower European links. Prime Minister Narendra Modi appreciated a positive visit to Washington In January, displaying strong relations with Trump. But India’s leadership must now also tackle a new complex and unpredictable era in American policy in which it cannot be quite certain that the links between Washington and New Delhi will continue. As Minister of External Affairs of India subrahmanyam Jaishankar described it last OctoberIndia pursues a “multi-alignment or multi-carrier” approach to foreign policy, developing links with several partners to increase its geopolitical space. Given events in Washington, strengthening links with Europe can offer diplomatic counterweight to New Delhi.
The most immediate objective will be technological cooperation. A meeting of the EU -India Commerce and Technology Council – only the second since its foundation in 2023 – The deepening opportunities of collaboration in fields ranging from artificial intelligence to clean technologies. Specific fields of orientation include the load infrastructure for electric vehicles, batteries and artificial intelligence, as well as India priority to “digital public infrastructure”. Advancing trade will be more complex, despite negotiations on a free trade agreement that restarts after a long interruption, but not impossible.
But a new potential program of India-Indies, India, can be much wider. The two parties share concerns about economic security and the reduction of vulnerability to geoeconomic threats, the management of American tariffs increased to the fight against business practices of China. In particular, Europe focuses on the supply chains for the disintegration of Chinese products, as indicated in the Recent draghi reportAlignments with Indian interests to attract larger industrial investments – if European companies may be convinced to move their investment objective from China to India.
New areas of cooperation are also possible in space policy and defense. Indian potential participation in PescoThe framework of EU defense cooperation is a potential area of discussion, given that certain external states may be invited to meet with EU members as PESCO Private project donors. A new security and defense partnership in Europe-India may also be possible, adding to those recently developed with Japan And South Korea.
Challenges remain of course. The EU has struggled in recent years to calibrate its diplomatic approach in Ukraine with New Delhi, given the deep historical relations of India with Russia. This is likely to deepen American American peace negotiations on a potential Ukrainian peace agreement, a European approach is opposed, but New Delhi is likely to support. On the other hand, India will see any potential European warming of links with China with suspicion. New Delhi is also critical The workforce and environmental measures of the EU, the most obviously, its mechanism for adjusting carbon borders – although on this point, promised by von der Leyen “omnibus“Legislation to reduce administrative formalities could offer progress.
Despite this, this week’s meetings are now delivered with a clear diplomatic commitment on both sides to develop a stronger joint program. Von der leyen a promised A new joint communication on “a new strategic program of the EU-en-Indien” by the middle of the year, updating a previous document of 2018. This will be followed by a roadmap written jointly, which will be presented at a delayed Europe-Indicity summit, now scheduled for the last quarter of this year.
As a new EU representative, Kaja Kallas note In its recent confirmation hearings, the relationship has “so much unexplored potential”. The early movements of the Trump administration provide a clear external thrust for this sleeping potential to be made. Speaking in New Delhi last year, Jaishankar recognized That Europe recently underwent a “greater strategic awakening”, even if it is largely motivated by external events. The coming months will test if Europeans can translate this awakening into concrete progress with one of their most important potential partners.
The European Council on Foreign Relations does not take collective positions. ECFR publications only represent the views of their individual authors.
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