New Delhi: The European Union (EU) hopes that India would keep in mind the security concerns of Brussels, ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to New Delhi Thursday.
“As much as European countries will never do anything that really harms the security interests of India, we would expect that India does the same towards Europe, European countries,” Herve Delphin, EU Ambassador to India, said Wednesday, speaking at the inaugural India’s World Annual Conclave 2025, organised by the Ministry of External Affairs.
“There is a clear aggressor. Russia has been invading a neighbouring country… we have cyber warfare which is waged. We have drones flying off, subsea cables cut off, disinformation operations… all of this is documented. Russia is an aggressor, not just towards a country which (it) has invaded, but has really declared itself hostile to Europe’s interest. So, I think India has to factor that in.”
Delphin added that despite the ongoing security concerns the EU has with Russia, it has continued to deepen ties with India, underscoring that security will be the core of the relationship going forward.
India and the European Union are expected to conclude negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement by early next year, ahead of the India-EU Summit.
The remarks by the EU’s ambassador to India come as the European countries continue to deal with the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on the continent. The EU has been a strong supporter of Ukraine since this phase of open conflict broke out in February 2022.
Over the last two weeks, the EU leadership has been part of negotiations with the US and Ukraine on a 28-point peace proposal suggested by Moscow to Washington. The proposal, which met a number of key demands of Russia, including the ceding of Ukrainian territory, came as a shock to a number of European leaders, according to media reports.
The European leaders were reportedly not consulted. However, the original proposal has been reduced to a 19-point peace plan, which was discussed by US envoy Steve Witkoff and Putin Tuesday evening in Moscow.
The almost four-year conflict has seen Russia cut off from the western banking system and trade networks. At the same time, India and Russia have deepened economic ties, with New Delhi becoming one of the largest purchasers of Russian oil.
In the last financial year, New Delhi imported almost $56 billion worth of oil from Moscow. However, this partnership has come under scrutiny in the last few months. US President Donald Trump imposed “penalties” on India for its Russian oil trade, hiking tariffs by 25 percent.
The US has also sanctioned Rosneft and Lukoil, two of Russia’s largest oil companies, further impacting India’s ability to source Russian oil from the global market.
In the mid of these global geopolitical tensions, Putin is set to arrive in India for a two-day state visit starting Thursday. The Russian President will be given a welcome reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan before attending the annual India-Russia summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Russian President is set to depart Friday evening. A number of topics are due to figure on agenda, including deepening the long-standing defence relationship, civil nuclear partnership and insulating India-Russia trade from global sanctions.
The current state of negotiations to end the war between Russia and Ukraine is expected to figure in the discussions between Modi and Putin as well. India has maintained that this is not an era of war and that the only solution is dialogue and diplomacy. However, it has taken no part in the mediation or discussions to end the war.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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Why should Europe expect India to keep Europe’s security in mind? It is not “expectation”, it is a master’s wish on a slave. Till now the master has exploited, manipulated the slave till now. It has never been a peer to peer relationship between Europe and India. BTW who is this Keshav Padmanabhan who is writing in support of EU?