Article
Garima Mohan
{
"authors": [
"Garima Mohan"
],
"type": "other",
"centerAffiliationAll": "",
"centers": [
"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"Carnegie India"
],
"collections": [],
"englishNewsletterAll": "",
"nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
"primaryCenter": "Carnegie India",
"programAffiliation": "",
"programs": [],
"projects": [],
"regions": [
"Asia",
"India"
],
"topics": [
"Foreign Policy"
]
}
Source: Getty
Other
Regional Connectivity in Asia: New Avenues for EU-India Partnership
Beijing-led multilateral arrangements have economic and geopolitical implications for Europe and India alike: they threaten Europe’s centrality in the Eurasian neighborhood and markets, and could posit China as the primary actor in India’s near neighborhood.
By Garima Mohan
Published on Nov 9, 2016
Source: Global Public Policy Institute
Executive Summary
Promoting a rules-based, multilateral global order is a central goal of the EU global strategy on foreign and security policy, 2016. However, with the global shift of power towards Asia, the established multilateral system and international organizations are under increasing pressure. China is at the center of this challenge. Beijing-led multilateral arrangements have economic and geopolitical implications for Europe and India alike: they threaten Europe’s centrality in the Eurasian neighborhood and markets, and could posit China as the primary actor in India’s near neighborhood. And yet neither partner has found an effective approach to deal with these challenges. Looking closely at regional connectivity projects including the Belt and Road initiative (OBOR), this policy brief argues that they present similar opportunities and challenges for the EU and India alike. By building on these convergences, the two can revive their flagging strategic partnership and gain greater influence in shaping the regional order in Asia.
Policy Recommendations
- Promoting multilateralism: The EU needs to develop a strategy for proactively engaging with new multilateral arrangements in Asia. To do so, it must utilize its strategic partnership with India more effectively, focusing especially on the emerging regional governance architecture in Asia.
- Coordinating positions: Common concerns on initiatives like OBOR offer new opportunities for deepening EU-India cooperation. Building on these strategic and normative convergences, European member states and India can develop coordinated positions in platforms such as the Asian Infrastructure Bank (AIIB), which will be used to fund OBOR projects. Similar strategy can be deployed when the New Development Bank (NDB) starts accepting members in 2017. However, this would require the EU to first develop a coordinated position among member states on dealing with new institutions.
- Regional connectivity beyond OBOR: India is in the process of articulating its position on regional connectivity and integration, which in rhetoric at least it is similar to the EU’s vision. As India pushes for connectivity and infrastructure development within South Asia and with Southeast and East Asia, the EU can play a role through investments and capacity building to support regional integration. There is also significant scope for infrastructure development within India. While partners like Japan have used this opportunity to deepen their strategic partnership with India, the EU is yet to capitalize on it. Given rapid urbanization and initiatives like ‘Make in India’ which presuppose quality and resilient infrastructure, the EU can play an important role and increase its visibility in India by investing in infrastructure development and linking to initiatives like Smart Cities.
About the Author
Garima Mohan
Former Nonresident Fellow, Carnegie India
Garima Mohan was a nonresident fellow at Carnegie India. Her research focuses on the foreign and security policies of rising powers, particularly that of India, and on Europe-India relations.
- Modernizing India’s Approach to Peacekeeping: The Case of South Sudan
Recent Work
Carnegie India does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
More Work from Carnegie India
- India’s Stake in the Global Subsea Cable RaceArticle
The Indian Ocean Region hosts one of the densest concentrations of subsea cables in the world. Yet, despite accounting for a significant share of global internet traffic, India’s participation remains limited.
Charukeshi Bhatt
- AI in Outer Space: Opportunities, Risks, and the Governance GapCommentary
How is AI reshaping space security, creating governance challenges, and where does international diplomacy stand today?
Tejas Bharadwaj, Almudena Azcárate Ortega
- Threading the Needle: India’s Path Forward with ChinaPaper
After the chill in ties between 2020 and 2024 that brought India–China relations to their lowest point in several decades, the two countries have engaged each other afresh. This paper argues that there are predominantly four imperatives guiding India’s approach to China, and they exist in an order of priority.
Saheb Singh Chadha
- Managing Divergence: India’s BRICS Presidency in 2026Article
This piece argues that India’s central challenge is not managing a single flashpoint but resolving the underlying tension between expansion and institutional coherency of the BRICS grouping.
Vrinda Sahai
- India’s Semiconductor Ecosystem Is Maturing—and ASML Is Taking NoticeCommentary
The ASML MoU with Tata Electronics is an indicator of how far the Indian semiconductor ecosystem has come. This ecosystem has been years in the making and represents real commercial logic.
Konark Bhandari
