Brussels – India as a new destination, a response to new global tensions and shifting geopolitical dynamics. The European Union, particularly EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, is betting heavily on a new season of bilateral relations with New Delhi. In some respects, it is an obligatory choice. However, it risks throwing the old continent into a counterproductive dimension. Like China, India has a role as a privileged partner with Russia, which is condemned and subject to no less than sixteen sanctions packages and still has a lot of work to do on human rights. In essence, it is not exactly a champion of those values that the EU has flaunted in recent years.
The European Parliament’s think tank, in a working paper drafted to ease the task of MEPs, makes no secret of the fact that EU-India relations are not without critical issues. The first concerns India’s political agenda. “The EU is also looking to expand its circle of key partners, against a backdrop of uncertainty over transatlantic relations” is the document’s premise. “India meanwhile maintains a privileged relationship with Russia and is strengthening ties with the Trump administration.” A way of positioning itself on the international chessboard that certainly puts the EU in the uncomfortable position of having to choose between avoiding any relationship with those who do not share European principles or embrace that pragmatism outlined by von der Leyen, in which we have to accept that we “have to work with countries that do not have similar ideas but share some of our interests.“
EU-India, the calendar for the new relationship season
The European Commission is serious. Little does it matter if New Delhi flirts with Moscow and Washington. Next week, the entire college will be in India on February 27 and 28. The EU-India Council on Trade and Technology will also meet for the occasion. A joint communication on a new EU-India strategic agenda is scheduled for the second quarter of 2025. An EU-India summit could take place in the last quarter of 2025. It is a timetable with dates, milestones, and goals, reflecting a desire to hedge against new trade tensions and shifting world orders.
