European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Monday said a partnership with India will be a priority for the EU as she told New Delhi of a threat to its regional interests after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ms Von der Leyen is the latest international leader to visit India in an attempt to lure the South Asian nation away from Russia's influence with pledges of security, defence and energy co-operation.
New Delhi has walked a tightrope between Moscow and Kyiv since the Russian invasion began, irking Ukraine and its western allies.
A stream of dignitaries have visited the country, most recently British Prime Minister Boris Johnson who also announced a new defence and security partnership with India.
“For the European Union's strengthening and energising, its partnership with India is a priority in this upcoming decade,” Ms Leyen said in her address at the three-day Raisina Dialogue, India’s leading foreign policy event.
“As vibrant democracies, India and the European Union share fundamental values and common interests.”
Ms von der Leyen said these principles were not shared universally and as such remained a challenge to open and free societies that could have a bearing on global technological, economic and security domains.
She said the crisis in Ukraine will not affect merely Europe but will have consequences for the Asia-Pacific region, where New Delhi and the West are trying to rein in a burgeoning China – India’s regional rival with whom its bilateral relationships have hit a new low after the deadly Himalayan border clashes in 2020.
“If we consider what it means for Europe and Asia that Russia and China have forged a seemingly unrestrained pact, they have declared that the friendship between them has no limits. There are no forbidden areas of co-operation,” she said.
“This was in February this year. And then the invasion of Ukraine followed. What can we expect from the new international relations that both have called for?” she said while addressing the event attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
She called the crisis a “defining moment” and urged nations to unite for the future of both the international system and the global economy.
Pressure mounts on New Delhi over Russian invasion
The US-led global alliance against Russia has been pressing New Delhi to shun its dependence on Moscow— India’s Cold War ally and its largest weapons supplier.
New Delhi has been the subject of increased focus from the West in recent months as has refused to publicly condemn Moscow, triggering dismay in Western capitals, including Washington.
The US President Joe Biden last month said New Delhi’s response to the Russian military offensive was “somewhat shaky” and offered to enhance security and energy co-operation with India.
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UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres visits Borodyanka, near Kyiv, where Russian forces are accused of killing civilians. AFP -
Children play in the wreckage of a Russian armoured vehicle in Lukashivka, Chernihiv region, northern Ukraine. The village has been retaken by Ukrainian forces. EPA -
A cyclist passes a destroyed building in Derhachi village, near besieged city Kharkiv, in north-eastern Ukraine. AFP -
Burnt-out wreckage of a tank in Kolychivka village, Chernihiv region, northern Ukraine. EPA -
A Ukrainian flag flies in a park in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine. A rocket attack on the city railway station earlier in April killed at least 50 people. AFP -
Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses a meeting of MPs in St Petersburg. EPA -
Youngsters Faddei and Oleksandr play in front of a church damaged during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the Chernihiv region. Reuters -
A demonstrator turns emotional as she attends a rally in Kyiv demanding a humanitarian corridor to rescue civilians from Mariupol. Reuters -
A Ukrainian Sukhoi Su-25 releases decoy flares as it provides air support to Ukrainian ground forces near central city of Yampil. AFP -
An officer from National Guard of Ukraine surveys weapons left behind by Russian troops in Chernobyl. AFP -
Mr Putin attends a meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in Moscow. Reuters -
Members of a team from the International Atomic Energy Agency carry equipment as they arrive at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in Chernobyl, Ukraine. AP -
Ukrainian troops fire rockets from the city of Popasna, near Luhansk. EPA -
Lithuanian musician Darius Mazintas plays a piano in front of the Central House of Culture destroyed during Russia's invasion, in the town of Irpin, outside Kyiv. Reuters -
Ukrainian refugees Julia, second left, 32, and Miroslava, left, 11, walk away with relatives who received them after they crossed into Poland from Ukraine at the Dorohusk border. AFP -
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meets Mr Guterres in Moscow. AFP -
US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Mark Milley, left, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, second left, and Ukrainian Minister of Defence Oleksii Reznikov, right, attend the Ukraine Security Consultative Group meeting at Ramstein airbase in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany. Getty Images -
Smoke rises from an oil terminal hit by fire in Bryansk, Russia. AP -
People take pictures by the wreckage of a Russian military vehicle, in the village of Rusaniv, Kyiv region. Reuters -
Smoke rises above the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant amid fighting in Mariupol, Ukraine. Reuters -
People carry a large Ukrainian flag as they attend a rally to mark the 77th anniversary of Liberation Day in Milan, Italy. The day remembers Italians who fought against the Nazis and Mussolini's troops during the Second World War. EPA -
A Ukrainian soldier looks at a Russian ballistic missile's booster stage that fell in a field in Bohodarove, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
People watch as a residential building burns after Russian bombardment in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP -
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin. Reuters -
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Orthodox Easter service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. EPA -
A young girl in front of people carrying a huge Ukrainian flag during a peaceful demonstration entitled 'Solidarity with Ukraine' in Krakow, Poland. Reuters -
A boy stands next to a wrecked vehicle in front of an apartment damaged during the conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol. Reuters -
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows damage at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, Ukraine. AP -
A Ukrainian man rides in front of a destroyed building in Kharkiv which had been shelled by the Russians. EPA -
A Ukrainian Territorial Defence fighter in a shelter with an Easter Cake near Kharkiv. Ukrainians mark Orthodox Easter today. EPA -
Residents receive Easter cakes and apples handed out by pro-Russian troops on Easter Day at the Svyato-Troitsky Church in the southern port city of Mariupol. Reuters -
A woman photographs the scene of yesterday's shelling in the southern Ukraine city of Odesa. Eight people were killed, including a three-month child, and about 20 were wounded. EPA -
A military chaplain blesses Ukrainian soldiers on the occasion of Orthodox Easter not far from the city of Izyum in Kharkiv. EPA -
An internally displaced man walks with dogs in the Palace of Culture, which was damaged by shelling in Rubizhne, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
Tulips grow next to a building destroyed by shelling in Rubizhne. AFP -
Internally displaced people wait to receive food inside a factory that has been turned into a shelter, in Severodonetsk. AFP -
Members of the Ukrainian Red Cross carry a woman, 92, to an ambulance from a bunker at a factory in Severodonetsk. AFP -
Ambulance workers move an injured Ukrainian serviceman to a hospital in Donetsk. AP -
A woman sits inside a subway station that has been turned into a shelter, on the outskirts of second largest Ukrainian city, Kharkiv. AFP -
Residents shelter in a subway station in Kharkiv. AFP -
Anastasiya Kryvoho attends a candlelight vigil for Ukraine on the Orthodox Holy Saturday, in Toronto, Canada. Reuters -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses a press conference with international media in an underground metro station in Kyiv. AFP -
Firefighters work at the scene of a fire after shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine. EPA -
A family from Myrne, a town occupied by Russian forces, wait to register with police at an evacuation point for people fleeing from Mariupol, Melitopol and surrounding towns. Getty Images -
Oleksandr, 25, meets his parents Olga, 49, and Oleksandr, 50, who fled from the Russian-occupied village of Lyubimivka, at the evacuation point in Zaporizhzhia. EPA -
Residents walk near a damaged military vehicle in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Mariupol. AP -
A heavily damaged apartment building in Horenka. Getty Images -
Residents wrapped in blankets stand near their houses damaged by Russian shelling in Odesa. AP -
A Ukrainian flag is installed on top of a gob pile in Lysychans, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
A Ukrainian soldier rests at a checkpoint in Severodonetsk. AFP
Similar offers have come from the UK and European countries, including from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson who announced a new and enhanced security and defence partnership with New Delhi on Friday.
Leading politicians from Russia and China have also visited New Delhi, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov who offered increased energy and defence ties with India.
During her meeting with Mr Modi early on Monday, Ms von der Leyen unveiled a special council to boost trade and technology co-operation and deepen security and strategic engagement.
In a post on Twitter, she said the EU would co-operate with India on solar and green hydrogen energy to help it move away from Russian fossil fuels. “So co-operation on solar and green hydrogen is key,” she said in the tweet.
“Strengthening the partnership is a key priority for this decade. We will step up co-operation in trade, technology and security.”
The trade and technology council with India will provide political direction and the necessary structure to put political decisions into operation and co-ordinate technical work.
Ms von der Leyen said the EU had already assembled a trade and technology council with the US and it was important to set up another with India.
The council will report at political level to ensure measures are implemented and followed up in areas that are vital for the sustainable progress of European and Indian economies, a statement said.
The two leaders agreed to speed up negotiations on a free-trade agreement between India and the EU that resumed last year. The talks had stalled since 2013 over issues such as patent protection and tariff reductions.
India is one of the EU's largest trading partners, with bilateral trade reaching $67 billion in 2021.
The Raisina gathering is partly sponsored by India’s Foreign Ministry and the Observer Research Foundation, a think tank in New Delhi.
More than 200 delegates from about 90 countries, including former heads of states and foreign ministers of several European, Asian and South American countries, are due to attend the event.
