EU-India-Starting a More Adventurous Conversation - EU India Twinning Think Tanks Initiative

EU-India: Starting a More Adventurous Conversation

Think Tanks Twinning Initiative author 2016, Gateway House, IAI, Gateway House publications, Istituto Affari Internazionali, Publications

Twelve years after they launched their strategic partnership, the EU and India appear ready to take their relationship into new and potentially more adventurous, exciting and mutually bene cial directions. The summit in March 2016 marked the beginning of a more mature and politically relevant dialogue between the EU and India. Implementation of the di erent priorities set out at the March summit, however, will require time, energy and e ort to keep up the momentum. High-level summits should be held regularly – instead of at four-year intervals – so that leaders can maintain contacts and build better relations. New areas of cooperation, including in the security sector, must be strengthened and quickly lead to real action. Given their di erent histories, identities and priorities, the EU and India will continue to disagree on many issues. Such di erences, however, must not become an obstacle to better relations.

Securing Afghanistan – Prospects for India-EU Cooperation

Think Tanks Twinning Initiative author 2016, Carnegie India, Global Public Policy Institute, GPPI, Carnegie India publications, Publications

With the US seeking to limit its international role amidst domestic political resistance, India and Europe are facing increased pressure to take on greater international responsibilities. Delhi and Brussels are both pursuing a more ambitious role in international security affairs, and the imperative for strategic cooperation between them is growing. After 15 years of limited cooperation, India and the EU have the opportunity to join forces on promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan. Despite extraordinary international attention paid to Afghanistan since the turn of the millennium, prospects for the current regime’s failure have increased. A Taliban victory in Afghanistan would impose severe costs on India and Europe in terms of refugee inflows and terrorist threats. To prevent this, cooperation between India and the EU should be directed towards improving Kabul’s odds of defeating the Taliban offensive and enhancing its leverage in the negotiations on regional reconciliation. This will require greater trilateral coordination between Kabul, Brussels and New Delhi, in conjunction with a dual track approach that demands short-term emphasis on political and military consultations on the changing ground conditions, along with with a long-term focus on continued economic assistance to strengthen a moderate and stable Afghan regime.

Regional Connectivity in Asia-New Avenues for EU-India Partnership - EU India Twinning Think Tanks Initiative

Regional Connectivity in Asia: New Avenues for EU-India Partnership

Think Tanks Twinning Initiative author 2016, Carnegie India, Global Public Policy Institute, GPPI, Carnegie India publications, Publications

Promoting a rules-based, multilateral global order is a central goal of the EU global strategy on foreign and security policy, 2016. However, with the global shift of power towards Asia, the established multilateral system and international organizations are under increasing pressure. China is at the center of this challenge. Beijing-led multilateral arrangements have economic and geopolitical implications for Europe and India alike: they threaten Europe’s centrality in the Eurasian neighborhood and markets, and could posit China as the primary actor in India’s near neighborhood. And yet neither partner has found an effective approach to deal with these challenges. Looking closely at regional connectivity projects including the Belt and Road initiative (OBOR), this policy brief argues that they present similar opportunities and challenges for the EU and India alike. By building on these convergences, the two can revive their flagging strategic partnership and gain greater influence in shaping the regional order in Asia.

EU-India Security Cooperation - Counter Terrorism and Radicalisation - EU India Twinning Think Tanks Initiative

EU-India Security Cooperation – Counter Terrorism and Radicalisation

Think Tanks Twinning Initiative author 2016, Chatham House, European Union Institute for Security Studies, Observer Research Foundation, ORF, Chatham House, EUISS – Publications, Publications

ORF, Chatham House and EUISS produced three Background Papers covering West Asia, Maritime Security and Counter Terrorism and Countering Radicalisation. These papers were grouped together as one well produced paper publication. The consortium also held a Workshop and a Public Event in New Delhi in September 2016, as well as a final Public Event in Brussels in November. The public events were well attended by a mix of officials, academics and think tank representatives.

EU-India Security Cooperation – Maritime Security - EU India Twinning Think Tanks Initiative

EU-India Security Cooperation – Maritime Security

Think Tanks Twinning Initiative author 2016, Chatham House, European Union Institute for Security Studies, Observer Research Foundation, ORF, Chatham House, EUISS – Publications, Publications

ORF, Chatham House and EUISS produced three Background Papers covering West Asia, Maritime Security and Counter Terrorism and Countering Radicalisation. These papers were grouped together as one well produced paper publication. The consortium also held a Workshop and a Public Event in New Delhi in September 2016, as well as a final Public Event in Brussels in November. The public events were well attended by a mix of officials, academics and think tank representatives.

EU-India Security Cooperation – West Asia

Think Tanks Twinning Initiative author 2016, Chatham House, European Union Institute for Security Studies, Observer Research Foundation, ORF, Chatham House, EUISS – Publications, Publications

ORF, Chatham House and EUISS produced three Background Papers covering West Asia, Maritime Security and Counter Terrorism and Countering Radicalisation. These papers were grouped together as one well produced paper publication. The consortium also held a Workshop and a Public Event in New Delhi in September 2016, as well as a final Public Event in Brussels in November. The public events were well attended by a mix of officials, academics and think tank representatives.

Charting a Sustainable Future-EU-India Platforms on Energy and Climate Change and Urban Development - EU India Twinning Think Tanks Initiative

Charting a Sustainable Future: EU-India Platforms on Energy and Climate Change and Urban Development

Think Tanks Twinning Initiative author 2016, Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Global Relations Forum, GRF, FES publications, Publications

At their thirteenth summit held on 30th March 2016 in Brussels, the EU and India managed to fillip their strategic partnership through the launch of a bilateral platform on energy and climate cooperation, and the promise of an EU-India forum on urban development, amongst a string of other deliverables. For long now, the EU-India relationship has been fettered in diplomatic rows, political torpidity, bureaucratic bottlenecks, failed forays into foreign policy, beached free trade agreement negotiations and overall loss of momentum. This year’s so-called annual summit – held after a gap of four years – has proved to be one of the most strategic meetings in the chronology of the EU-India relationship by refocusing the partnership onto three areas of global and bilateral significance.

India’s View on Human Security-Citizens First, Holistic Urbanisation and Cooperation with the European Union - EU India Twinning Think Tanks Initiative

India’s View on Human Security: Citizens First, Holistic Urbanisation and Cooperation with the European Union

Think Tanks Twinning Initiative author 2016, Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Global Relations Forum, GRF, FES publications, Publications

Human Security as a concept is highly contested. Currently, there are two broad schools of thought. The first sees human security as an all-encompassing formula which includes human development, human rights, human freedom, human dignity and security. The second, narrower understanding of human security limits itself to freedom from fear, conceptualising human security as freedom from organised violence, repression and human rights abuses. The two understandings of human security – broad and narrow – have mirrored a North-South divide within the United Nations. Western countries, such as the US, Canada and European Union member states, have mostly embraced the freedom from fear agenda, while the global South and Japan have rallied behind the freedom from want agenda. For developing countries, the narrow conceptualisation is wedded to the Responsibility to Protect norm, fearing that human security may be instrumentalised to legitimise interventions, invite interference and compromise sovereignty.

Towards an EU-India Partnership on Urbanisation - EU India Twinning Think Tanks Initiative

Towards an EU-India Partnership on Urbanisation

Think Tanks Twinning Initiative author 2015, Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Global Relations Forum, GRF, FES publications, Publications

GRF and FES India delivered a Seminar on “EU-India Cooperation on Sustainable Urbanisation” in Pune, India, in September 2016, and produced a Policy Brief on “Charting a Sustainable Future: EU-India Platforms on Energy and Climate Change and Urban Development”, as well as one on “India’s View on Human Security: Citizens First, Holistic Urbanisation and Cooperation with the European Union”.