Europe’s Re-Arming: Could Enhance India, EU Partnership
STORIES, ANALYSES, EXPERT VIEWS
A $20-trillion EU economy with 450 million people is changing, and fast. This is bound to have implications for the rest of the world. Formally ushering in this change, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen unveiled an €800-billion project in early March: ‘We are in an era of rearmament……the era of the peace dividend is long gone. The security architecture that we relied on can no longer be taken for granted. Europe is ready to step up. We must invest in defence, strengthen our capabilities, and take a proactive approach to security. We are taking decisive action, presenting a roadmap for ‘Readiness 2030’, with increased defence spending, important investments in European defence industrial capabilities.’
In the light of above, Happymon Jacob (teaches India’s foreign policy at JNU, and is editor, INDIA’S WORLD) identifies key factors that could enhance India, EU partnership.
A multipolar world order could be to India’s benefit
The EU’s quest to become a major security and defence player, in the view of Jacob “could help usher in a multipolar world order, quite inadvertently so. Consider this…….” If the re-arming succeeds, “the EU will be a top global power. Even if it falls short, Europe will still be a major geopolitical player. Either way, a militarily strong EU will be one of the most important poles in a multipolar world.
“In fact, Europe’s rearmament could help create a multipolar world, countering the current trend towards an EU-China bipolar system. Even if the EU itself doesn’t become a pole in the classical sense, there might emerge militarily and economically strong States within the EU which might be considered as poles. EU’s military buildup could disrupt the US-China bipolar trend, potentially creating a multipolar world. New Delhi has reasons to be delighted. This is clearly something it would welcome given its own ‘pole ambitions’ in a multipolar world.”
A militarily self-confident Europe, writes Jacob “could be less accommodating of China’s aggression on the world stage. While New Delhi shouldn’t hope to see friction between Brussels and Beijing, such a development would surely be welcome here……
Europe’s return to classical geopolitics will mean India will have more options
A re-armed Europe will also fundamentally alter “India’s view of the EU. Over the past two and a half decades, India’s relations with the US have transformed. But its relationships with Brussels or other major European capitals have continued to be challenging. In the past, India’s geopolitical initiatives were often frustrated by Europe’s normative hang-ups, and New Delhi’s desire to behave like a ‘normal’ state in the international system were moderated by Europeans. It may not be the case anymore. Going forward, trans-Atlantic tensions and Europe’s return to classical geopolitics will mean India will have more options on the table.”
New Europe’s demographic challenges and rearmament requirements will need partners such as India for joint defence production, ammunition, and skilled, cheaper labour.
Europe’s search for strategic autonomy will be another important factor
Both India and the EU notes Jacob, “place a great deal of importance on strategic autonomy, but they have both -- the former more so than the latter -- realised that over time that desire for strategic autonomy without military muscle is political grandstanding. Rearmament of Europe and its search for strategic autonomy from the US will be another important factor that could bring India and Europe together.”
Trust as a factor
Then, there is the issue of trust. “When contemporary Europe looks around, it sees very few nations it can trust for partnership: Russia is aggressive, the US disinterested, and Japan and South Korea worried about their own security considering the doubtful state of American security guarantees. This is where New Delhi comes in, as a defence partner, as a pivotal State in the Indo-Pacific, as a huge market, and a potential partner to create a new world order.”
‘Trust,’ said EU ambassador to India Hervé Delphin at the Carnegie Global Tech Summit, ‘is now a critical raw material of geopolitics, with unprecedented value. This will define the dynamics of the emerging world. EU rearmament is enabling us to realign partnerships faster, especially with India.;
For India, there has never been a better time to do business with Europe.
