{"id":3593,"date":"2026-08-11T22:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T16:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/notes\/india-and-the-eu\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T23:02:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T17:32:13","slug":"india-and-the-eu","status":"publish","type":"psir_note","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/notes\/india-and-the-eu\/","title":{"rendered":"India and the EU"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PSIR Notes<\/a>\u203a<\/span>II-B India and the World<\/a>\u203a<\/span>India and the EU<\/span><\/div>\n
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Paper I \u00b7 India and the World<\/div>\n

India and the EU<\/h1>\n
Syllabus \u00b7 Paper II-B \u00b7 5<\/b> \u2014 India and the Global Centres of Power : USA, EU, Japan, China and Russia.<\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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Nature of the relationship \u00b7 and the European Union<\/h3>\n

India\u2019s engagement is principally with the European Union<\/span> and its member states, most of them in Western Europe.<\/p>\n

The European Union at a glance<\/span><\/p>\n

Founders:<\/span> Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg \u00b7 Capital:<\/span> Brussels. A supranational<\/span> political-economic union of 27 member states<\/span> \u2014 the world\u2019s largest trade bloc, about a fifth of global trade.<\/p>\n

Historical depth.<\/span> Shashi Tharoor<\/span>: ties reach back to the Roman Empire \u2014 Kerala\u2019s Roman port Muziris, and a first-century-BCE Lakshmi ivory found at Pompeii.<\/p>\n

How scholars frame it<\/span><\/p>\n

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  • Christian Wagner<\/span>: often called \u2018natural partners\u2019<\/span> for shared democracy, plural society and counter-terrorism; frequent summits since the 1996 Enhanced Partnership place India among a select group with Russia, the US, China, Canada and Japan.<\/li>\n
  • Rajendra K. Jain<\/span>: the association is many-sided \u2014 the EU is India\u2019s top trading partner, a large FDI source, a donor, a technology source and host to a big diaspora; India now sees it as a political player, not only a trade bloc.<\/li>\n
  • Shashi Tharoor<\/span>: Indians dislike being lectured to; Europe\u2019s tendency to preach on human rights \u2014 which India treats as a domestic matter \u2014 is a recurring irritant. David M. Malone<\/span>: no part of Indian foreign policy is harder than its underwhelming tie with Europe.<\/li>\n
  • Christian Wagner<\/span> also collects the sceptics\u2019 labels \u2014 a \u201ccharade\u201d (Jaffrelot<\/span>), a \u201cloveless arranged marriage\u201d (Khandekar<\/span>), at \u201crisk of stagnation and political marginalization\u201d (von Muenchow-Pohl<\/span>), and marked by \u201cfriendly disinterest\u201d (Gr\u00f6ning<\/span>).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Why Europe matters for India<\/h3>\n
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    • Largest bloc and market; France and the UK are nuclear powers and P5<\/span> members; Germany is a strong UNSC-expansion candidate; four EU states sit in the G-8.<\/li>\n
    • Dhruva Jaishankar<\/span>: as a single entity the EU mirrors India\u2019s federal, multilingual structure; European states broadly share India\u2019s liberal-democratic, secular, multicultural values; Britain and France are key defence suppliers; Europe hosts a diaspora above 1.7 million<\/span>.<\/li>\n
    • Complementarity:<\/span> India\u2019s market, cost-competitiveness, services growth and demography against Europe\u2019s technology, stability and ageing population; Europe is a source of strategic technology and gives India room to bargain with the US, Russia and China.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Cold-War era \u2014 why the partnership underperformed<\/h3>\n
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      • David M. Malone<\/span>: India\u2019s early encounters with Europe were rooted in maritime trade; Portuguese naval forces arrived in 1498, and four colonial powers followed over four and a half centuries. Indian forces fought under the British across both World Wars.<\/li>\n
      • Rajendra K. Jain<\/span>: India took little interest in European unification early; attention came only when Britain sought Common Market membership (1961). Jawaharlal Nehru<\/span> argued the EEC would deepen Cold-War divisions, widen the rich\u2013poor gap and weaken the Commonwealth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        C. Raja Mohan on the causes of difficulty<\/span><\/p>\n

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        • Seeing the continent through British eyes<\/span>; alignment with the USSR skewed the view.<\/li>\n
        • Non-alignment and criticism of European alliances put Delhi out of touch with Cold-War manoeuvring.<\/li>\n
        • Western alignment with Pakistan pushed India toward Moscow, which then shaped its European lens.<\/li>\n
        • Privileged access to Eastern Europe could not be used under bloc politics.<\/li>\n
        • The East\u2013West divide<\/span> compounded by the North\u2013South conflict<\/span>; anti-colonial non-alignment left little room for strategic cooperation.<\/li>\n
        • Socialist policies constrained foreign capital and weakened commercial ties built by 1947.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          The Treaty of Rome<\/span> made no reference to the wider Third World; India\u2019s bid for an Association Agreement (1961\u201363) was ruled out for \u201cnon-associates.\u201d<\/p>\n

          After the Cold War \u00b7 the twenty-first-century reorientation<\/h3>\n
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          • C. Raja Mohan<\/span>: the Soviet collapse forced a rethink \u2014 India found ties with the US, Europe, China and Japan all underdeveloped. Reforms drew European interest, but Europe was far more taken with China after Deng\u2019s reforms and found India\u2019s pace frustrating.<\/li>\n
          • The 1993 Joint Political Statement<\/span> and 1994 Cooperation Agreement<\/span> are foundational; 2004 made both strategic partners \u2014 the EU has such partnerships with only five others (US, Canada, Russia, Japan, China).<\/li>\n
          • Brussels issued an India Strategy (2018)<\/span> on four themes \u2014 a rules-based order, sustainable modernisation, foreign-policy coordination, and security. The EU produced its Indo-Pacific Strategy (2021)<\/span>, driven by Chinese assertiveness, supply-chain strain, and the 2020 signing of RCEP<\/span>, which raised fears of a China-centred Asian bloc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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            India\u2019s strategy is \u201cengaging with the USA, managing China, cultivating relations with Europe, reassuring Russia, and bringing the Japanese into active participation.\u201d<\/p>\n

            S. Jaishankar<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

            Once a critic of European colonialism, New Delhi is now eager to welcome Europe back into Asia; alongside the Quad<\/span> it uses the West Asian I2U2<\/span> with Israel, the UAE and the US. In 2022 Modi visited Germany, Denmark and France; the Green Strategic Partnership was the standout of the Denmark leg.<\/p>\n

            Areas of cooperation<\/h3>\n

            Economic \u2014 the essence of the relationship<\/span><\/p>\n

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            • The EU was India\u2019s largest trading partner in 2010 (\u20ac86 bn); by 2021 its third-largest (\u20ac88 bn goods, 10.8%), with India the EU\u2019s 10th (2.1%). EU FDI stock in India reached \u20ac87.3 bn (2020); about 6,000 European companies<\/span> provide 1.7 million direct jobs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

              The two 2025\u201326 trade deals \u2014 CETA and the EU FTA<\/span><\/p>\n

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              • India\u2013UK CETA<\/span> \u2014 concluded May 2025, signed 24 July 2025, in force 15 July 2026<\/span> (with the Double Contribution Convention). The UK removes duties on about 99%<\/span> of India\u2019s tariff lines from day one (textiles, leather, marine, processed food, engineering and auto parts); services open across 137 sub-sectors; India opens central-government procurement for the first time and, in a first, cut car-import duties from over 100% to 10% within quotas \u2014 while shielding dairy, cereals, millets, edible oils and apples.<\/li>\n
              • India\u2013EU FTA<\/span> \u2014 concluded 27 January 2026<\/span> at the 16th India\u2013EU Summit, text published February 2026; signing expected end-2026, then European Parliament consent and entry into force in early 2027. India gains preferential access on 97%<\/span> of EU tariff lines (99.5% of its export value), with nearly US$33 bn<\/span> of labour-intensive exports going to zero duty; the EU opens 144 services sub-sectors, India 102, with a social-security framework to follow. India shields dairy, cereals, poultry and soymeal; the EU excludes beef, chicken, rice and sugar; India cuts wine and olive-oil tariffs.<\/li>\n
              • The wider run<\/span> \u2014 India signed with Oman, New Zealand, the UK and the EU across 2025\u201326, adding to the UAE, Australia and EFTA; it now holds FTAs with 14 of the 16 RCEP economies<\/span>, with only China outside its FTA network.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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                Track<\/th>\nBilateral weight carried by the big three<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
                France<\/td>\n36 Rafale and 6 Scorpene (P-75); exercises Shakti \/ Varuna \/ Garuda<\/span>; the 2018 Joint Strategic Vision in the IOR and reciprocal logistics; MTCR backing (2016); ISA co-founder; Jaitapur nuclear.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
                United Kingdom<\/td>\nExercises Ajeya Warrior \/ Indradhanush \/ Konkan<\/span>; defence-intelligence and counter-terror dialogue; UKIERI, GIAN and the Skills India Mission; the largest ethnic-minority diaspora (~1.5 million).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
                Germany<\/td>\nA major ODA partner since the 1950s; built IIT Madras; S&T a main pillar since 2007; pledged an extra \u20ac10 bn<\/span> (2022) toward India\u2019s 2030 climate targets.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

                Political, security, climate & technology<\/span><\/p>\n