A Friendless EU Suddenly Wants India’s Approval
There was a faint air of desperation when Brussels’ technocrats came to New Delhi. Yet closer ties could benefit everyone.
No more cold shoulder: Ursula von der Leyen and Narendra Modi.
Photographer: Money Sharma/AFP/Getty Images
The president of the European Commission and all her fellow commissioners turned up in India last week, in a hastily put-together visit meant to re-energize relations. The bonhomie on display in New Delhi sent out the message that Europe still had some friends — and contrasted starkly with what was unfolding simultaneously in Washington.
Ursula von der Leyen and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi together announced a set of promises meant to drive India and the EU closer together. They would conclude a free trade agreement by the end of the year, they said. Von der Leyen also told the media that Europe intended to create a “defense and security partnership” similar to recent agreements it has signed with Japan and South Korea.