NEW DELHI: The European Union (EU) perceives India as a key partner for trade and maritime security initiatives in the Indo-Pacific and plans to enhance joint patrols and exercises in the northwest Indian Ocean, senior EU and Swedish officials said on Wednesday.
Relations between the 27-member European bloc and India have witnessed a significant improvement in the last few years and cooperation in security too has improved through concrete steps taken by the armed forces of India and EU states, a senior EU official said during a briefing on the upcoming EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum to be hosted by Sweden on May 13.
The relationship with India is one of the EU’s “broadest, deepest and most-forward looking”, the Swedish official said. Both EU and Swedish officials spoke on background about the forum, which will be attended by external affairs minister S Jaishankar.
In addition to Mission Atalanta, which plays a key role in the EU’s naval diplomacy for the Indo-Pacific, EU states intend to have more maritime security cooperation with India. This will include exchanges of information and joint exercises between the navies of India and EU states as part of a wider and coordinated European maritime presence in the northwest Indian Ocean, the EU official said.
These measures will help secure sea lanes of communication, fight organised crime and other threats, and ensure secure and resilient supply and value chains, the officials said.
{{/usCountry}}These measures will help secure sea lanes of communication, fight organised crime and other threats, and ensure secure and resilient supply and value chains, the officials said.
{{/usCountry}}The officials listed the situation in the northwest Indian Ocean, the nuclear threat from North Korea, maritime and cyber security issues and foreign information manipulation as major challenges in the evolving security situation in the Indo-Pacific. The EU is keen to build partnerships with key players such as India to face these challenges, they said.
Swedish foreign minister Tobias Billström and EU foreign affairs and security policy chief Josep Borrell will co-chair the EU-Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum in Stockholm, which is expected to be joined by 60 foreign ministers of the two regions.
There will be three parallel roundtable sessions devoted to sustainable and inclusive prosperity, green opportunities and global challenges in cooperation, and the evolving security landscape of the Indo-Pacific. The discussions will focus on sustainable and inclusive development, digital divides, digital economy, and secure global supply chains that work in both directions.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which the officials described as the worst security crisis in Europe in decades, is expected to figure in the discussions. However, the forum will retain its focus on the Indo-Pacific region as it is a “regional theatre with inter-connected threats”.
Asked about China not being invited to the forum, the EU official said: “China has never engaged with any partners in the framework of the Indo-Pacific concept, which it criticises. That, however, doesn’t mean the EU won’t engage with China.”
All cooperation and engagement in the Indo-Pacific will be based on openness and inclusiveness to ensure the same rules for everyone, the officials said.