EU seeks whole new cooperation with India: “Strategic priority”

Brussels – The European Commission is continuing its outreach to India with a new strategy aimed at strengthening bilateral relations. This in itself is not surprising, given the times: trade tensions with a partner, the United States, suddenly less friendly, an increasingly geo-politically “cumbersome” China, Russia removed from the list of “friendly” countries, dialogue with New Delhi is practically a must. It is striking that the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in presenting this strategy, states that “now is the time to focus on reliable partners and to redouble partnerships based on shared interests and guided by common values.” With our new EU-India strategy, “we are taking our relationship to the next level.” 

Diplomacy, in the end, is an instrument of hypocrisy, a useful artifice to conceal one’s true thoughts for more amicable tones. While criticism and attacks are rarely productive, praise and expressions of esteem and affection are, so let us welcome the customary words of circumstance, even if they are not entirely truthful. But then again, stresses the communication to the States, “to take the EU-India strategic partnership to the next level is a strategic priority.”

On the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the sanctions on Moscow, India has adopted an ambiguous and duplicitous stance:
buying oil from Moscow and maintaining good relations with the Kremlin in an anti-Chinese key for control of the region, resulting in India’s participation in the Russian military exercise on the EU’s borders. An all-Indian logic that scarcely matches von der Leyen’s words: to call Mohdi’s India a “reliable” partner is a gamble, all the more so since the European Commission itself is aware of its bet, albeit inevitable.

The New EU-India Strategy

In the background remains the trade agreement that the EU aims to conclude by the end of the year to shield itself from the potential negative fallout of the tariff agreement with the United States and any new trade tensions. But in the meantime, it relaunches cooperation, in accordance with the principle that “we cooperate as long as we can”, in five areas: sustainability, innovation and technology, security and defence, connectivity, and coordination at every level. 

More specifically, in terms of sustainability, the initiative aims to enhance cooperation on renewable energy, capacity building in green hydrogen, and the expansion of green finance, as well as collaboration on food security and climate change response. With regard to innovation and technology, emphasis is placed on the commitment to promoting critical emerging technologies and the commitment to digital issues, with a particular focus on strengthening economic security within the Trade and Technology Council (TTC). This new strategy also includes a potential EU-India partnership for startups, and an invitation for India to join the
Horizon Europe for research programme. 

EU seeks new relationship with India, but Delhi’s new path presents a challenge