BackNarendra Modi engages Europe, sans the Union
Even as EU-India relations struggle to gain traction, Indo-French and Indo-German relations continue to grow
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If the sequence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s overseas sojourns are any indication of his foreign policy priorities, then Europe comes a poor fourth—after South Asia, the Indo-Pacific and the US. Significantly while Europe—represented by France and Germany—made the cut, the European Union (EU) did not. This was not for want of trying on the part of New Delhi; reports suggest that the EU-India summit—last held in 2013—was scuttled at the behest of Brussels to express displeasure over the long festering case of the two Italian marines being tried in India for the alleged killing of fishermen off the Kerala coast in 2012.
The immediate reason notwithstanding there are several fundamental factors that are likely to prevent closer India-EU ties. First, in economic terms, East Asia (which includes the burgeoning Sino-Indian trade) has overtaken the EU as India’s largest trading partner. Thus, in economic terms the 28-nation bloc has diminished in significance, particularly as only a handful of countries (France, Germany, the UK and Italy) account for most of the EU’s trade, foreign direct investment, joint ventures and technology transfers to India.
Second, in political and strategic terms, the US, through a series of bilateral agreements, offers a significant strategic military and non-military partnership to New Delhi. This partnership was deepened and widened by the two recent US-India summits held less than six months apart. In contrast, Europe has been far more ambivalent about providing access to such strategic dual-use technology, even though some countries—notably France—have been more forthcoming. Moreover, as India engages with the emerging multi-polar world through multi-alignment, it simply does not consider Europe to be a reliable partner, although it has entered into a “strategic partnership" with the EU. Events of the past few years have confirmed to New Delhi that Brussels is unable to stand united against either the US, Russia or China. Thus even though several European countries are individually considered to be reliable strategic partners, collectively the EU is not considered as one of the potential ‘poles’ in the evolving multi-polar world.
Third, conceptually, independent India is justifiably regarded as a “modern state", which emphasizes sovereignty, territoriality and raison d’état. In contrast, according to Robert Cooper, the EU, which epitomises the “postmodern state", “has become a highly developed system for mutual interference in each other’s domestic affairs, right down to beer and sausages". The difference in the conceptual outlook of India and the European Union might also explain the inherent discomfiture of a modern India to engage with a postmodern entity like the EU.
Fourth, despite common traits, challenges and perspectives, the EU and India have divergent approaches to addressing security issues. For instance, the EU has formalised an elaborate Common Foreign and Security Policy, a European Security and Defence Policy, and even a European Security Strategy while India has not formally articulated a national security strategy. This stymies efforts for joint collaboration or operations.
Besides, unlike the EU, India still does not promote its secular, pluralistic, and democratic ideology to other states, even though Modi has been more expressive about it.
Finally, Europe with its multiplicity of complex organizations is considered to be over-institutionalized and over-bureaucratized and, therefore, far less attractive to engage with than powerful countries, such as the US, the Russian Federation, France or Germany, or less-institutionalized regional organizations, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Ironically, even as EU-India relations struggle to gain traction, Indo-French and Indo-German relations continue to grow, as evident from the success of Modi’s recent visit to both countries.
For the EU to be taken seriously by India, it will have to resolve its own economic and financial crisis, play an effective role in addressing violent extremism both within and in its neighbourhood, manage the ‘boat-people’ refugees crisis more effectively and ensure that its members live up to their multicultural and multi-ethnic principles.
W.P.S. Sidhu is senior fellow for foreign policy at Brookings India and a senior fellow at the Center on International Cooperation, New York University. He writes on strategic affairs every fortnight.
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