Round The World
New Delhi, 12 October 2017
India
& EU
GROWING
PARTNERSHIP?
By Dr.
D.K. Giri
(Prof.
International Politics, JMI)
The India-European Union 14th Summit
meeting in New Delhi on 6th October focused on closer cooperation on
counter terrorism actions. Importantly, the joint declaration named Hafeez,
Saeed, Dawood Ibrahim, Zakir-Ur Rehman, LeT and JeM et al as those perpetrating
terror.
In fact, terrorism has become a common focus
and gained currency as Europe has been subjected to repeated terrorist attacks
recently even though India has been in the throes of cross-border terrorism for
long.
Besides this, trade was another key issue as
there has been a clear mismatch both in India’s and EU’s external relations.
Notwithstanding, the EU has been functioning internally and in foreign
relations as a trading bloc.
Undoubtedly, while New Delhi’s external ties were
politics and security driven at the cost of its vital economic relations, EU
emphasized more on trade and economy ignoring its political objectives like
promotion of democracy, protection of human rights, rule of law etc. The EU’s
heavy trade relations with China at the cost of its international political
objectives, is a case in point.
Alas, the Summit meetings and a plethora of
bilateral meetings including the important strategic partnership have failed to
correct this imbalance. Significantly, India is one among 10 select countries
with whom EU has strategic partnership, launched in 2004.
Tracing the relationship between the two, India was the first developing country to make
diplomatic contact in 1962 with the EU,
then known as the European Economic Community (EEC). Today they are celebrating
55 years of diplomatic contact. Even as not much of this festivity is seen or
felt in the public domain.
In fact, there is not much awareness of the
role and functions of EU in India. In most Summit or bilateral meetings, there
is repeated reference to the shared core values of democracy, pluralism, human
rights etc. Whereby the European Commission’s President Jean-Claude Juncker wrote
in the India press, “India and EU are natural partners, the bond is built on
shared beliefs and the strength of law outweighs the law of the strong.”
This is an oblique reference to China’s belligerent
territorial aggression in the South China Sea. Echoing this perspective, the
European Council President Donald Tusk added, “EU wants to build with India a
strong strategic partnership on the foundations of common values of freedom,
democracy and credible rule based global order.”
Prime Minister Modi was equally effusive
about relations. Said he at the Summit, “India values her multifaceted
partnership with EU and we attach high importance to our strategic partnership
as the world largest democracies we are natural partners and our close
relations are based on shared common values.”
Undeniably, these statements are political
rhetoric and diplomatic niceties. Actually, the strategic partnership is
under-performing. An instance: The Free Trade Agreement, a one of its kind
supposedly to promote India’s growth and development and for which negotiations
started in 2007 is stuck.
Indian negotiators feel that the Europeans
are less flexible and patronizing whereas Europeans think that India is not
open to lifting trade barriers, giving market access, making geographical
indications and straightening public procurement. In addition, there is concern
about intellectual property rights (IPR). Whatever be the bottlenecks, the
unending and stalled negotiations do not behove a strategic partnership.
Certainly, India and EU relations have a
strong potential to prosper into a strong partnership as the EU is New Delhi’s largest
trading partner accounting for 13.7 per cent ahead of China’s 11 per cent and
US’s 9 per cent. And EU is India’s 9th largest trading partner with
exports amounting to 37.8 billion euros in 2016 and the total value of trade
was 77 billion euros in 2016.
Also, about 24 per cent of total FDI flows from
EU to India and around six thousand European companies are operating in India.
Bilateral trade in commercial services has nearly tripled over the past decade
increasing from 10.5 billion euros in 2005 to 28.4 billion euros in 2016.
The European Investment Bank has opened an
office in New Delhi and has committed 1.5 billion euros for the current year.
The Lucknow and Bengaluru metro projects and many solar ventures are supported
by the Bank. Further, India, is the leading the International Solar mission.
True, investment would come. But is the Indian
market ready to absorb such investment flow? The Alcatel chief profoundly
remarked, “Indians are wonderful people, but India is a terrible market”. How
much has it changed?
On political front, EU has recognized India’s
regional role in international politics. It has taken serious note of SAARC as
a regional body and jotted New Delhi’s role and interest in Africa.
Pertinently, it has invited her to participate as an observer at the next
EU-African Union Summit.
Both held discussions on regional and
international issues which included the Muslims Rohingya crisis, their radicalization
in particular, Iran’s nuclear programme, North Korea’s missile adventurism,
civil war in Syria as also rebuilding of Afghanistan. Both “committed to a
sustainable, democratic, prosperous and peaceful Afghanistan”.
It also wanted the responsibility for abetting
and aiding DPRK’s nuclearisation to be fixed. Obviously fingers were pointed
towards China wherein both EU and India sought to send a clear message that Beijing
should follow the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) for resolving
all maritime territorial disputes.
Furthermore, the apprehension that India,
following Britian’s exit from EU, might lose interest in EU relations is
misplaced, asserted the European Commission’s Vice President and High
Representative on EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini. On
the contrary, India’s deep and growing relations with major countries like
Germany and France are likely to deepen.
Recall, after the 1994 Cooperation and
Development Agreement relations were expected to cover people-to-people contact
and a multi-faceted collaboration. This was followed by the EU-India Strategic Partnership
in 2004 and a Joint-Action Plan in 2005 updated in 2008.
The Strategic Partnership Treaty recognized
India as a “regional and global leader engaging increasingly on equal terms
with other world powers. However, despite these institutional growths in
India-EU bilateralism relations between Brussels and New Delhi have failed to
live upto their potential, remarked German Ambassador to India Martin Ney. He
singled out the joint -failure on resumption of talks to FTA and investment.
Evidently, there has been progress by EU and
India. From a common market, EU now has a common currency and has evolved from
a Community to a Union. India has also progressed economically following the
financial restructuring post 1990s.
There was change of guard in Indian
leadership in April 2014 and in EU in November 2014. However, there has been no
visible swift progress.
Clearly, India and EU have to do some serious
re-thinking on their relations. They need to re-orient their respective
bureaucracies to be more visionary, open and accommodative. Therein lies the
future of the mutuality of India and the EU. ----- INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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