Asserting the “rearmament” of the European Union (EU) as a collective force when the world is undergoing geopolitical and geo-economic shifts, EU’s Ambassador to India, Hervé Delphin, said on Thursday that India and the EU’s relationship assumes greater significance as cooperative partners in such turbulent times.
“EU, India relationship is clearly on an ascending trend,” he said at the Ananta Centre in New Delhi during an interactive session, adding that the 27-nation bloc is a “unique construct”, even for Europeans, and tends to be “written off”.
“People understand that the EU stands as a collective force in today’s world,” said Delphin, adding that Brexit, US President Donald Trump’s second term in the White House, and the pressure of global powers including Russia, China, and the US on the EU were “a series of crises” that the EU has had to navigate.
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The global powers’ interest in the EU, said Delphin, means that the latter matters. “They may deride us, challenge us, undermine us, but it means that we matter. Otherwise, they will not take the pain and time in focusing on us,” he said.
Delphin noted that a shift in the geopolitical and geo-economical dynamics in the world was impossible to ignore, especially when “trade, migration, investment, technology, information and energy were being “weaponised”.
Having managed a “divorce with the UK”, which he said “no one in Europe was in favour of”, followed by Trump being voted to power twice, has driven the EU to form strategic partnerships with India and the ASEAN countries.
“For us, the environment has never been so conducive for a strong strategic partnership. I would say in the stock market of strategic value, the EU is up. I think we should seize the moment,” the envoy said.
India and the EU, said Delphin, are “cooperative partners”, who are committed to rule-based approaches and a rule-based order as well as being committed to finding solutions to global challenges and global commons – from AI to biodiversity.
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“We represent for each other a safe investment. I think this intersection of our economic, political and security interests has simply grown,” he said about the EU-India partnership that has “grown organically, having over 50 areas of dialogue and cooperation”.
“The partnership can deliver mutual benefits, not just for two of us, in a win-win (way), but also what it can bring for the world, especially in times of this turbulence. As a partner of choice and as a partner for necessity, we both stand to benefit from that relationship. There is indeed an untapped potential and maybe this is a time to deliver,” he added.
Referring to the ASEAN Regional Forum held last week, Delphin said they aimed at accelerating digital and green transition.
The EU, he stated, is in the midst of signing free trade agreements (FTAs) with many countries; has finalised deals with Singapore, Vietnam; and signed a political agreement for a comprehensive economic partnership with Indonesia.
The bloc is clearly undergoing reinvention, pointed out Delphin.
“So, what you see unfolding is what I call the 'rearmament' of the EU – military rearmament and societal rearmament. We are defending our democracy and increasing the resilience of our societies. We realised that we need to increase our resilience and are readying ourselves to the new normal.”
But, their “openness” should not be turned into a “vulnerability”, said Delphin. “We don't want this interdependence being weaponised against us,” he asserted.
Describing the “historic visit” of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the EU College of Commissioners, to India in February as “a vote of confidence and trust in this relationship with India”, Delphin said that it was a “strong political message” that shattered any lingering doubts in each other.
Referring to von der Leyens's keynote address during the visit, Delphin said, “She had said that it is a 'consequential partnership' not just for the EU and India, but also for the rest of the world."
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