THE TANGLED TRIUMVIRATE EU-INDIA AND THE INDO-PACIFIC

Identification of the problem and relevance to the EU-India strategic partnership

- DR VEENA RAVIKUMAR

The European Union (EU) became an entity in 1950 with six members slowly expanding to make it 28 at present, with Britain exiting on December 31, 2020. This was thought to be somewhat of an ideal organisation of integrative politics. Following it, other associations like the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC), and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), prided themselves on having EU as a model. Though SAARC, unfortunately, has not been a success, ASEAN has achieved its aims.

India had EU as its foremost partner in especially trade, but the opposite was not the case. Yet EU encouraged India in that it was politically democratic and willing to assist similar nations with goals to increase development1. Philosophically too, Max Mueller from Germany, Voltaire from France, have been partial to Indian thinking, culture, and spirituality.

The identification of the problem being, even though India has been an admirer and linked with EU, it has not reached its potential with the former as it could have. Its potential is underachieved also in the India-EU strategic partnership.

In fact, in contemporary international relations with the realization of the US’ huge fallibility of the superpower status, the democratic system has shown weakness. It justifies to an extent the notion that the US falls short and the EU closes the chasm.

The canvas for the linkage between the EU-India--ASEAN-Quad is huge, inter-related with linked commonalities and distinctiveness.