India-EU Defense: The relationship between India and the EU has always been good. The EU’s special representative for the Indo-Pacific, Richard Tibbels, says that defence and security cooperation between India and the EU will grow as the security situation in the area gets worse.
“The EU has a clear interest in an Indo-Pacific region where sovereign, independent countries have the strength to protect their national interests, free of coercion,” Tibbels told Mint.
“As the world is facing major geopolitical inflection points, we see India as a key partner in implementing EU’s Strategy for the Indo-Pacific. This is reflected also in the 2022 EU’s Strategic Compass, where India is specifically mentioned.
We have already stepped up our security cooperation in recent years with a first joint naval exercise in the Gulf of Guinea and India has also participated in an exercise with EU Operation Atalanta in the North-West Indian Ocean,” Tibbels said.
Over the past few years, India and the EU have worked together on naval drills in the Northwest Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Guinea. A lot of talks about defence and security have been held between the two sides.
Indian Naval Ship Seizes 940 kg of Illegal Drugs in Successful Operation Crimson Barracuda
The 27-nation alliance has also started some projects to improve its security relations with countries in the Indo-Pacific area. With the CRIMARIO project, the EU wants to help countries in the Indo-Pacific become more aware of their maritime domain.
The EU-funded Enhancing Security in and with Asia (ESIWA) program makes it simpler for nations to collaborate on maritime security, cyber security, and counterterrorism. India and the EU collaborate on the initiative.
According to Tibbels,“You are likely to see an increase in the EU’s security and defence cooperation with India and greater engagement across the Indo-Pacific,” Space security will be a major focus of this collaboration.
Since we were both interested in space exploration, he went on, “Cooperation on space security issues should also certainly be explored between India and the EU as we both have high stakes in the space domain,” The EU showed its space program for defence and security in 2023.
In 2004, India and the EU worked together as a key partner, which made their friendship stronger. As not too long ago, defense and security were not the main topics of talk.
Like, at a meeting in 2020, the EU and India said they would work together until 2025. The plan promises to make it easier for military-to-military contacts and for them to work together on disarmament, cyber-security, peacekeeping, fighting piracy, and stopping the spread of nuclear weapons.
INS Kavaratti and INS Kiltan: India’s Powerful ASW Corvettes with Saab’s Cutting-Edge Technology
“The Indo-Pacific is seeing intense geo-political competition and increasing tensions in the South and East China Seas, the Taiwan Strait, not to mention the actions of the DPRK (North Korea) undermining the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and the border disputes between India and China. The stability of the region is also threatened by attempts at economic coercion, disinformation and malevolent actions in the cyber field,” Tibbels said.
“What is important for the EU is that there must be a level-playing field for economic relations and aggressive military rhetoric and exercises must be avoided and the UN Charter and international law, notably UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), must be respected,” he added.
