Powerful India now ‘indispensable’ to fading Europe

The images from New Delhi this week offer a master class in geopolitical theatre. Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa, seated as chief guests for India’s Republic Day, have been tenuously attending a display of military might that would make any Brussels pacifist faint. For three days, the EU leadership has engaged in a frantic charm offensive, desperate to finalise what they call the “Mother of all Deals”. But, if we look beyond the Hindi pomp and the European appeal, this may not exactly be a meeting of equals.

India is doing great. It is the fourth-largest economy in the world, growing faster than anyone else at a stunning 7.4 per cent rate. Europe, on the other hand, is not doing that great. Lagging and unassertive both economically and geopolitically, it has found itself in need of a helping hand. So, the Delhi visit is in fact a rescue mission for a Europe that is running out of friends.

Nonetheless, the progress is real. The negotiations for the Free Trade Agreement have successfully concluded with a formal agreement signed. Brussels is celebrating a “strategic recasting” that aims to integrate two billion people into a single orbit. In reality, it is a frantic hedge against Trump tariff walls in the West and China in the East. Plain old realpolitik: India is now the only giant left that could truly benefit the EU.

There is an irony to be noted here. For years, the European establishment treated India like a bad student. We have heard endless lectures about India’s neutrality regarding Ukraine and its refusal to abandon Russian energy. We saw diplomats clutching their pearls over New Delhi’s “illiberal” trajectory. Yet, as soon as the American security umbrella began to leak and the Chinese EV invasion threatened German jobs, the rhetoric changed. The world’s largest democracy is no longer “problematic”. It is “indispensable”.

India is playing the game very well indeed. Unlike the EU, New Delhi is not burdened by the need to pretend it is a moral superpower. It is a realist power seeking technology, market access, and a diversified military supply chain. By signing the pact, India becomes only the third Asian nation to enter in such a defence relationship with the EU. But make no mistake: India is not joining team Europe. It is inviting Europe to serve Indian interests, knowing Brussels needs it to avoid irrelevance.

This need has led to concessions that would have been unthinkable some years ago. Brussels is now reportedly ready to slash car import tariffs and open its sensitive service sectors, while New Delhi keeps its dairy and agricultural sectors protected. Critics call this a surrender disguised as a balanced deal. To be honest, the European Commission appears so afraid of being left alone in a protectionist world that it is willing to trade away part of its industrial leverage for a burst of headlines about “global leadership”.

What is more, the new “Security of Information Agreement” being praised by High Representative Kaja Kallas is a hollow shell. While it promises the exchange of classified material, it ignores a fundamental conflict of interests. India will continue to balance its ties with Moscow, and Brussels will continue to pretend it doesn’t notice. The “values-based” foreign policy that the EU loves to preach has been unceremoniously dumped in the Ganges.

Of course, the deal bears great benefits. Duties on luxury cars will drop from 110 per cent to eventually 10 per cent, while wine and spirits will find a clearer path into the world’s most populous market. For Brussels, it is about securing a competitive advantage in a region where China is currently being shut out. For New Delhi, it is a lifeline for sectors like textiles and pharmaceuticals, which have been hit by 50 per cent Trump tariffs. It all fits nicely: We help them industrialise, and they provide us with a market that isn’t actively trying to dismantle our industry.

But the lesson is clear: The EU is finally realising it cannot survive on norms alone. It is reaching out to India not because of sudden love, but because it has realised that it has to. Still, the “Mother of all Deals” may prove to be much more than a temporary life raft. If Europe grasps the essence of why India needs to become its new strategic ally, and shifts its policies across the board accordingly, the Old Continent may manage to tread again the path of enlightenment.