India-EU Ties; Post Ukraine Invasion, Russia-China ‘No Limit’ Deal, Brussels Reassesses Beijing

NEW DELHI: On ‘TalkingPoint’, Ambassador Mohan Kumar, India’s Former Envoy to France, Chairman, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), Dean, International Affairs and Global Initiatives & Professor of Diplomatic Practice at the School of International Affairs, O.P. Jindal Global University and Dr. Alicia García-Herrero, Chief Economist, Asia Pacific, Natixis, Senior Fellow, Bruegel, Non-Resident Research Fellow, East Asia Institute, National University of Singapore in conversation with StratNews Global Associate Editor Amitabh P. Revi.

The panel discusses European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India and the EU deciding to establish a Trade and Technology Council (TTC) — a “strategic coordination mechanism” that is aimed to “tackle challenges at the nexus of trade, trusted technology and security”, the former German Defence Minister saying the outcome of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will not only determine the future of Europe, but also “deeply affect the Indo-Pacific region and the rest of the world”, her flagging Russia and China’s “seemingly unrestrained pact”, External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar ticking off Europe, while pointing to the challenges in India’s neighbourhood — in Afghanistan, and from China — as a “wake-up call”, Europe’s relationship and dependencies on China, its 2021 trade deficit of 249 billion Euros, an increase from 129 billion euros in 2011, economic coercion of Lithuania, a stalled Comprehensive Agreement on Investment and PM Modi’s visits next week to Germany for a bilateral with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, to Denmark for the Nordic Summit and to France to meet President Emmanuel Macron after his re-election.