DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR EXTERNAL POLICIES
POLICY DEPARTMENT
STUDY
Evaluation of the EU-India Strategic Partnership and the potential for its revitalisation ABSTRACT The EU-India Strategic Partnership has lost momentum. Bilateral ties are not receiving sufficient priority from both sides. Economics remains at the core of this relationship. Since negotiations on the Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) may take time to be concluded, EU-India ties should not be held hostage to developments at BTIA level. On defence and security matters, India deals with EU Member States directly and has a good framework for cooperation with major European powers. The recent Indian decision to buy Rafale jets from France will also have long-term implications for EU-India links. Unlike its partnerships with the US and Russia, India has yet to discover the relevance of EU-India relations within evolving Asian security and economic architecture. Growing Indo-American relations and the close transatlantic partnership could provide new opportunities to work together. Collaboration in research and innovation has expanded significantly and dialogues on global governance, energy, counter-terrorism, migration and mobility as well as human rights all show great potential. New dialogues could be initiated on Afghanistan, maritime security, development cooperation and the Middle-East. Indian engagement in resolving the Ukraine crisis could be explored.
EP/EXPO/B/AFET/FWC/2013-08/Lot5/05 June2015-PE 534.987
EN © EuropeanUnion, 2015
Policy Department, Directorate-General for External Policies
This paper was requested by the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs English-language manuscript was completed on 18/06/2015. © European Union, 2015 Printed in Belgium. Author(s): Gulshan SACHDEVA, Chairperson, CENTRE FOR EUROPEAN STUDIES, SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY, INDIA Official responsible: Laurence VANDEWALLE Editorial Assistant: Aysegul UNAL Feedback of all kind is welcome. Please write to the official responsible:
[email protected] To obtain copies, please send a request to:
[email protected] This paper will be published on the European Parliament’s online databa