Round The World

New Delhi, 14 December 2010

11^th EU-India Summit

INDIA’s RISING STATURE

By Monish Tourangbam

Research Scholar, School of International Studies (JNU)

India’s growing stature in world politics is reflected in the changing dynamics of its ties with major powers. New Delhi’s voice is increasingly being heard in major regional and international organizations thus giving it the confidence and the reason to seek, in conjunction with other like-minded countries the reform of various international organizations.

Importantly, New Delhi is an eminent votary of the conviction that international politics in this age of globalization is more inter-dependent than ever, and that major crises and problems cannot be solved in isolation. Hence, reflective of its own belief in multi-lateralism, democracy and diversity, Raisina Hill espouses policies that talk of cooperation and mutualism.

This is where the values India strives for finds a lot of meeting points with the kind of idea and goals on which the European Union (EU) is constituted. Indeed, a supra-national authority like the EU need not be perfect but it is a unique symbol of belief in consensus-building and an experiment in regional governance.

India as a multi-ethnic and multi-religious democracy has vast areas of commonalities and convergences with the EU which should be increasingly tapped. The EU has so far succeeded in pooling the resources of 27 countries without necessarily instigating fear of loss of sovereignty.

The recently concluded 11^th EU-India summit held in Brussels was another step towards cementing and diversifying India’s ties with the EU. The recent Summit, as expected was broad-based in nature covering a wide spectrum of issues that are of concern to both sides.

Significantly however, during media interactions, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well as European leaders seemed intent on toning down barriers to India-EU trade and focused on the optimism projected towards the implementation of a free trade regime soon.

For instance, regarding the issue of the seizure of generic drugs at European ports en route to third world countries, India’s Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar said while a broad consensus on resolving the issue had been arrived at, the lawyers of both sides were now examining the way forward in such a manner that each party’s “right to further legal recourse” would not be prejudiced.  If reports are to be believed, this dispute seems to have come to some form of resolution but the real test, as always, will be at  the stage of implementation.

Various rounds of negotiations have gone into the EU-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and officials are hopeful that it could be signed by early next year. Post the summit, Prime Minister Singh sought to keep away detractors by commenting that both sides were engaged in the last stages of what he calls a “complex exercise”.

Through the joint declaration, the two sides recognized “the value of an ambitious and balanced Broad Based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA), which will bring significant economic benefits to both sides and further strengthen the bilateral economic relationship.” According to reports, the BTIA will reduce duties on mutual trade, which aggregated about Euro 56 billion in fiscal 2009-10.

The declaration stated that the, “leaders welcomed the significant progress recorded during recent negotiations, agreed on the contours of a final package, and reaffirmed the importance of an ambitious and balanced conclusion in the spring of 2011.” Concerning fears that a FTA in agricultural products would adversely affect small and medium farmers in India; the Prime Minister averred that adequate “safeguards” would be put in place to take care of the concerns of farmers and small businesses.

There is no gainsaying, that global recession combined with the influx of skilled people mainly from Asia have created domestic political compulsions in some countries leading to protectionist tendencies resulting in clamping down on the legal movement of people. This is a matter of concern for a country like India boasting of a vast and a growing knowledge pool.

Taking this issue into consideration, the declaration stated:” Recognizing the important implications of the movement of people for India and EU, they agreed to explore initiatives that could lead to a regular, comprehensive and structured dialogue on migration issues, with a view to deepening cooperation in this field.” 

Recall, NATO has set 2014 as the time-line by which the NATO forces including the US “aspires” to end combat mission in Afghanistan and hand over responsibilities to the Afghan Establishment and its forces, of course taking into account the ground realities. Keeping these developments in perspective, both India and the EU expressed solidarity in their commitment towards a “stable, peaceful and inclusive Afghanistan free from terrorism”.

Both Brussels and New Delhi have major stakes in the conflict. Also, Pakistan’s assistance is crucial in ending this conflict. But, when it comes to tackling terrorism, one needs to call a spade a spade. Recently, India fared quite well in convincing major powers to demand more concrete actions from Pakistan. As such, both the EU and India agreed “terrorism must be combated firmly and expressed concern at the continuing existence of safe havens, including in the cross- border dimension.”

Further, while sharing hope for a democratic and prosperous Pakistan, leaders from both sides also “called upon Pakistan to expeditiously bring all the perpetrators, authors and accomplices of the Mumbai attacks to justice.” In fact, the shared concern for terrorism could prove a major catalyst in building convergences between the Indian intelligence and their counterparts spanning across the European continent.

Leaders also dwelt on the state of the global economy, particularly in the context of developments registered in the G20 forum. As such, they welcomed the significant agreement reached on IMF reform at the G20 summit earlier in Seoul. The Seoul Summit document elaborates that there will be a shift in quota shares to dynamic emerging markets, developing countries and to under-represented countries of over 6%, while protecting the voting share of the poorest, which the G20 leaders have committed to work to complete by the Annual Meetings in 2012.

Particularly, as world politics has witnessed a mushrooming of various associations within and across regions. As such, countries should strive to prevent a zero-sum game where one association’s successes eat into the development of another. This is germane to the furtherance of mutual interest in a globalized world presenting a state of complex inter-dependence.

The influence and power of one association should not become a liability for another. The same set of countries (especially in the case of major powers) are simultaneous members in many associations. Hence, the understanding reached in one association should become a stepping stone towards further milestones in others.

On his way back from the EU-India Summit in Brussels, Manmohan Singh made an important stop-over in Germany. There, he along with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel reviewed the state of the strong India-Germany relationship discussing issues ranging from combating terrorism, prospects for high technology trade, trade laws and the possibility of cooperation in the field of civilian nuclear energy.

They also deliberated on cooperation towards UN reforms which should assume more vigour as both are newly elected as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council. In sum, keeping in mind President Sarkozy’s recent successful India visit, Prime Minister Singh’s sojourn in Germany should serve as another major fillip towards stronger EU-India ties. ----- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)