India’s growing interest in Europe has not come a day too soon. Having viewed the continent through British eyes during the colonial era and through Russian lenses during much of the Cold War, Delhi has begun to take a fresh look at Europe’s relevance to its own strategic and economic future. In the words of India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, ‘cultivating Europe’ has become an important dimension of its great power relations along with ‘engaging America, managing China, reassuring Russia and bringing Japan into play’. Although India and the European Union declared a strategic partnership at the turn of the 21st century, it is only in the past decade that the intensity and ambition of their engagement have deepened. India’s expanding relations with major European powers, smaller states, and the EU as a collective actor reflect this growing convergence. What was once a dormant pillar of Indian foreign policy is now gaining heft, propelled by shifting geopolitics and the turbulence unleashed by the U.S. President Donald Trump’s disruptive agenda. Turning India’s new opportunity with Europe into concrete outcomes, however, remains a demanding and unfinished task in Delhi.
Responding to geopolitical change
This new Indian focus coincides with a historic inflection point in Europe. For the first time since the end of the Cold War, Europe faces a rare moment of simultaneous intensification of external threats and internal dislocations. The horrific Russian invasion of Ukraine, growing Chinese economic pressure, and the US threats on the security and commercial fronts have combined to unsettle the foundations of European security and prosperity. Domestically, Europe contends with an ageing population, technological stagnation, disquiet over immigration levels, and the rise of populist forces that challenge liberal democratic norms. And yet, despite these mounting pressures, the continent is not retreating. Instead, it is recalibrating and seeking to shape its own future more assertively on the global stage.