The European Union (EU) proposed a new strategic agenda with India that raises bilateral relations to a higher level amid calls from the United States to hit India with massive tariffs.
In July, the EU sanctioned an Indian refinery that refined Russian crude, ensuring it can’t sell to Europe. Since then, US President Donald Trump imposed 50% tariffs on India, half of it as punishment for buying Russian fuel.
But as the EU and the US align their policies against Russia on secondary sanctions for its war in Ukraine, the Trump reportedly called on the bloc to impose up to 100% tariffs on India.
However, the EU seems to have adopted a different approach in its new strategic agenda: lure India away from Russia’s orbit of influence through a trade deal and enhanced strategic ties.
“Now is the time to focus on reliable partners and double down on partnerships rooted in shared interests and guided by common values,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
“With our new EU-India strategy, we are taking our relationship to the next level.”
How EU, India are strengthening ties
Kaja Kallas, EU’s top diplomat, acknowledged the bloc has “clear areas of disagreement” in reference to India’s purchase of Russian oil and India’s participation in Russia-led Zapad military exercises in Belarus.
But she added in “turbulent times,” perhaps alluding to the stress in the EU’s own relations with the US, the bloc needs partnerships.
“Deepening ties with India, not really pushing them to Russia’s corner,” she said, was agreed upon in conversations among senior EU officials.
An EU official said there might be advantages to a better relationship with India.
India is a “moderating voice,” the offical said, that does not subscribe to the anti-Western agenda in forums, such as BRICS and the China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), where New Delhi has a seat but the EU is missing.
“India has been trying to be useful, talking to [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy, inviting Zelenskyy to [New] Delhi. So there’s scope for a conversation,” he added.
Garima Mohan, a Brussels-based senior fellow with the German Marshall Fund (GMF), said the new strategic agenda is much more ambitious and one that “singles out India as an important partner, a counterweight to China.”
The document lists closer cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and emphasizes India’s role in diversifying supply chains — a veiled reference to the EU’s desire to move away from dependencies on China.
EU, India defense cooperation gaining steam
A key part of the strategic agenda is to foster defense industrial cooperation.
The EU sees India, the world’s biggest arms importer, as a huge market for European defense manufacturers and a country that is looking to reduce dependence on Russia and diversify its imports. India hopes to modernize its navy and air force and has earmarked more than €70 billion ($83 billion) for defense for 2025-2026.
“I think if you are in India and looking at how Russian weaponry is performing in Ukraine, you would quite naturally want to diversify,” said Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, a senior fellow at Bruegel, a Brussels-based think tank.
“As Europe rearms, Europe and Ukraine will become formidable arms producers and will be a natural option for India” to buy weapons, he said.
Mohan, the GMF researcher, argued that Europe can also buy more from India, which aims to sell at least €5 billion in defense exports by 2029.
“While Europe is investing in its defense industrial complex and enhancing its capabilities, it would still need to procure equipment from trusted partners,” she told DW. “There is simply not enough to buy off the shelves in Europe.”
Mohan was relieved that despite India’s decision to dispatch a team of soldiers to participate in Russia-led Zapad military exercises in Belarus, the momentum in ties had not been disrupted.
“Zapad, it wasn’t good planning on India’s part,” she said. “I think this was a bump in the road, and it does strengthen the voices of those who say perhaps the EU shouldn’t do more with India.”
“But it is a good thing that the communique (on enhancement of strategic ties) was released and things are in motion,” she said.
EU countries back stronger ties with India
On a recent phone call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni hailed “excellent” relations and skipped any mention of the US demand to impose sanctions or higher tariffs.
Instead, Europeans see India as a partner equally interested in preserving a rules-based global trade order.
On a visit to New Delhi earlier this month, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said while some countries were erecting trade barriers, India and Germany should lower them.
Germany has decided to double its trade volume with India, and Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said India was banking on Germany’s support for the EU-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
French President Emmanuel Macron discussed Ukraine with the Indian Prime Minister over the phone and updated him on security guarantees Europe is planning for Ukraine.
“India and France share the same determination to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” he posted on X.
Experts said that while India and the EU may or may not iron out all differences by the end of the year, as Modi and von der Leyen expected, there is no doubt that EU-India ties are on an upward trajectory.
“But alongside there should be a political agreement of sorts that India’s purchases of Russian oil will be on a downward trajectory,” Kirkegaard added.
Edited by: Davis VanOpdorp
