In conversation with ORF Vice President of Strategic Studies Harsh Pant, Delphin highlighted that India and the EU are currently negotiating an agreement information sharing agreement, which is expected to be signed later this year.
“The security and defense partnership is a political enabler, the intelligence agreement is a legislative enabler, which would allow us to share information in sensitive sectors, ultimately leading to partnerships with the defense industry,” Delphin explained.
The EU envoy highlighted “genuine tactical cooperation” in the defense sector with India, particularly in maintaining maritime security on the high seas to prevent piracy in the Indo-Pacific. India and the EU recently signed a series of agreements, including a free trade agreement (FTA), last month during the visit of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Antonio Costa.
The agreements included the security partnership as well as other documents and a mobility framework. The visit is considered “historic” given the number of action points both sides have identified, including in areas such as critical minerals, green and renewable energy and advanced technologies, Delphin said.
For the EU, which has long invested in its transatlantic partnerships, and for China, evolving ties with India are coming to an inflection point in global geopolitics. Delphin said that even “five years ago” such a deal would not have been easily imagined. The reason for the change in Brussels’ priorities stems from three obvious shocks: the changing role of the United States in the transatlantic partnership under the presidency of Donald Trump, the expansion of China’s manufacturing capacity which weakens the EU manufacturing sector, and the war between Russia and Ukraine since 2022.
The security and defense partnership with India is the ninth signed by the EU in recent years. This could potentially lead India to join the European “ReArm Europe” plan, which would devote almost 850 billion euros to modernizing the defense capabilities of member states.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
Read also: Wines, precious stones and surgical equipment should become cheaper. The big gains for India and the EU from a historic FTA
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