New Delhi: Europe has emerged as a significant partner for India amid the challenges posed by the current US administration and similarly, in light of recent developments in transatlantic ties, India’s value as a partner for Europe has increased, with Indian foreign policy navigating the Trump storm, a report said on Wednesday.
“India has invited the European Union as the Chief Guest for R-Day 2026, represented by Van Der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, and Antonio Costa, the President of the European Council. It is expected that the India-EU FTA will be signed on January 27. This will happen under the shadow of a developing EU-US rift. It is with an embattled Europe that we will be signing the agreement,” noted author, analyst and former Foreign Secretary of India, Kanwal Sibal wrote in ‘India Narrative’.
“A major breakthrough in our ties with the EU will occur when the political, economic, and security outlook for Europe becomes fluid. Europe will need to reorient itself, whatever the outcome of this tussle with the US,” he stated.
The seasoned diplomat emphasised that Trump’s approach to Europe has been more severe compared to his stance on India.
“Trump has questioned the utility of NATO, although it has been the bedrock of security in Europe. In India, there are concerns that Trump is no longer as committed to Quad as he was in his first term and in the early weeks of his second term, but Quad is not central to India’s security as NATO is to European security,” he stressed.
According to Sibal, Europe’s “colossal failure” in handling Trump surpasses India’s shortcomings in dealing with the US President. Europe’s dependence on the US for security, the article mentioned, has come at a significantly higher cost compared to India’s investment in security relationship with the US, both bilaterally and within the Quad framework.
“Some European countries, notably France, do talk of strategic autonomy for Europe, but there is no consensus within Europe on this strategic ambition because maintaining such autonomy within an alliance system is inherently a contradiction. India has maintained its strategic autonomy despite the Trump challenge,” it noted
The report said that the recent visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India for the India-Russia Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s participation in the SCO summit last year in China and India chairing the BRICS in 2026 and hosting the BRICS summit, and New Delhi’s decision to pursue other aspects of ties with the US, despite the trade deal imbroglio demonstrate India’s exercise of “strategic autonomy”.
(IANS)
