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Policy Department External Policies INDIA's FOREIGN POLICY: ITS IMPORTANCE for the EU

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Policy Department External Policies INDIA's FOREIGN POLICY: ITS IMPORTANCE for the EU WORKSHOP SUMMARY Policy Department External Policies INDIA'S FOREIGN POLICY: ITS IMPORTANCE FOR THE EU HELD ON MONDAY 8 SEPTEMBER 2008 FOREIGN AFFAIRS September 2008 JANUARY 2004 EN DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR EXTERNAL POLICIES OF THE UNION DIRECTORATE B - POLICY DEPARTMENT - Workshop Summary "India's Foreign policy: Its importance for the EU" held on Monday 8 September 2008, 16:30 – 18:30 Summary On 8 September 2008 the Policy Department in DG EXPO organised a Workshop on behalf of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and of the EP Delegation for Relations with India. The large participation and interest from within and outside the European Parliament made for a successful event. The substance of the Workshop provided an opportunity for key Members of the European Parliament to present their views on India's foreign policy and on the partnership that can be developed with the EU to address regional issues. This Workshop Summary provides an overview on the issues raised during the Workshop. It is not intended as a verbatim reproduction of the event. EXPO/B/AFET/2008/59/workshop 08/09/2008 September 2008 PE 406.993 EN This summary is published in the following language: English Authors Workshop summary prepared by Xavier Nuttin Directorate-General for External Policies of the Union, Policy Department, rue Wiertz, B-1047 Brussels E-mail: mailto:[email protected] Publisher European Parliament Manuscript completed on 15 September 2008. The summary is available on the Internet at http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/committees/studies.do?language=EN If you are unable to download the information you require, please request a paper copy by e-mail : [email protected] Brussels: European Parliament, 2008. Any opinions expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of the European Parliament. © European Communities, 2008. Reproduction and translation, except for commercial purposes, are authorised, provided the source is acknowledged and provided the publisher is given prior notice and supplied with a copy of the publication. 2 Contents: 1. Programme ........................................................................................................................... 4 2. Summary............................................................................................................................... 5 3. Presentations 3.1 Presentation by Professor Radha Kumar on "India and the EU in transition: Dilemmas and Opportunities for partnership",..................................................................... 7 3.2 Presentation by Professor Christian Wagner on "India's growing foreign policy influence: what sort of player will India become?"............................................................ 11 4. Brief biographies of the Speakers....................................................................................... 15 3 1. Programme COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS DELEGATION FOR RELATIONS WITH INDIA supported by the POLICY DEPARTMENT (DG EXTERNAL POLICIES OF THE UNION) JOINT WORKSHOP INDIA'S FOREIGN POLICY: ITS IMPORTANCE FOR THE EUROPEAN UNION Monday 8 September 2008, 16.30-18.30 Paul Henri Spaak Building (PHS), Room 1A002, Brussels PROGRAMME 16.30-16.35 Welcome by Mr Libor ROUČEK, 1st Vice Chairperson, Committee on Foreign Affairs 16.35-16.50 Introductory remarks by Ms Neena GILL, Chairperson of the EP Delegation for Relations with India 16.50-17.10 Professor Radha KUMAR, Director, Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, New Delhi, India. "India and the EU in transition: Dilemmas and Opportunities for Partnership" 17.10-17.30 Professor Christian WAGNER, Head, Asia Research Division, Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), Berlin, Germany. "India's growing foreign policy influence: what sort of player will India become?" 17.30-18.20 General Debate 18.20-18.30 Concluding Remarks and summing up 4 2. Summary1 2.1 Background There is increasing recognition and interest in the EU for India’s growing influence, both economic and political, on the world scene including for India's leading role in South Asia. In Delhi, there is a wish for increased engagement with the EU as it is viewed as an alternative pole of dialogue for Indian foreign policy. Moving in that direction the EU has in 2004 upgraded its relations with the world's largest democracy to a strategic partnership. The relationship however still lags far behind those with Japan and China, the EU's other strategic partners in Asia. The purpose of the Workshop was therefore for the European Parliament to inform itself on the current foreign policy of India, to review its growing role in world affairs and to discuss how best India and the EU could join forces to address some of the regional issues. The Workshop was also intended to prepare the plenary debate of 24 September on the preparations for the next EU-India summit to be held on 29 September 2008 in Marseille under the French presidency. Upon the proposal by MEP Neena Gill, Chair of the EP Delegation for Relations with India, the workshop was jointly organised by the Delegation and AFET with the support of the Policy Unit of DG Expo. It featured a presentation by Professor Radha Kumar, Director of the Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution of Jamia Millia Islamia, in New Delhi, and one by Professor Christian Wagner, Head of the Asia Division in the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin. It was attended by about 20 MEPs and 50 other specialists and officials. 2.2 Introductory remarks In her introductory remarks Neena Gill explained that the idea for this seminar developed from a discussion that took place just over a year ago with the then newly established EP Delegation for Relations with India. She clarified that the aim of the meeting was to clear up many of the myths and misunderstandings often surrounding discussions about India's foreign policy. She also pointed out that Europe is still viewed in India primarily through the prism of its largest trade partners particularly Germany, the UK and France and actions by different EU member states need to be better co- ordinated so as to give a clear image of what the EU is beyond the 'Common Market'. India is a natural ally for Europe and shares much in terms of outlook and values with the EU. It must be said, however, that these synergies are not perceived by the two sides in quite the same way. While the EU wishes to regard India as a key regional and global partner in solving crises such as those in Burma or Iran, India's take on the relationship is slightly different. Where the EU views cooperation with India as a foreign policy imperative owing to India's growing global power, the Indian government tends to continue to view the relationship in terms of trade. She concluded with four sets of questions for the experts to address: on India´s non- interventionist policy; on the prospects for India getting a seat on the UN Security 1 Quotes are used to highlight key points raised by participants but have not been attributed to individuals. 5 Council; on the US -India nuclear deal and on the mediating role India could play in the Georgia conflict given its historical relationship with Russia. 2.3 Key points of the Presentations The two invited speakers spoke on India's foreign policy from different angles but agreed that " Sharing common values does not always lead to a common foreign policy" Professor Kumar while recognizing the willingness of both the EU and India to upgrade their relation found little concrete progress in cooperation so far. She then analysed different developments that have taken place in India over the last few years, from the Look East Policy focusing on East Asia at large to the Look West Policy which emerged later and is characterised by the recent rapprochement with the USA. Relations with China had grown in complexity, but there was too much rivalry for their relationship to be close. India's political stance was of non-intervention abroad, partly as a backlash given previous experiences (e.g. in Sri Lanka) and due to consequent wariness among her neighbours. The democratic factor has also played a key role in shaping India's foreign policy by promoting the concept of soft power. Overall, Professor Kumar believes that India was growing up: she had a global role, but was not a superpower. She summarised EU-India relations as "brave words, little progress". Professor Wagner for his part looked at the global influence of India and its place in the international order: India is indeed seeking "great power status", especially since the end of the Cold War. There was broad consensus among Indian leaders on this. This meant parity with China, recognition of India as a nuclear power and the freedom to pursue an independent foreign policy (something difficult to achieve in a globalized world). He also spoke about the need for India to strengthen its own democracy, not forgetting that India still is a developing country, ranking 128 on the UN Human Development Index, having lost two places in 2007. India's recent foreign policy transition meant a shift of emphasis from hard to soft power, and from security to trade. Many of India's exports were going east. 2.4 Discussion A lively exchange of views with MEPs took place after the presentations covering different issues and also offering different viewpoints on the partnership that could be developed between the EU and India. Energy security, the US-India Nuclear deal, Afghanistan, the Indian policy in Africa and the competition between India and China, both in the political and economic fields, were particularly discussed. The non- interventionist policy pursued by India reflects the current defensive approach of India's foreign policy which while seeking to gain a larger role in the international community remains reluctant to appear as intervening in the internal affairs of third countries. This is partly linked to its historical role in the non-aligned movement and partly due to the current economic interests of India.
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