NEW DELHI — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
threatens India’s regional security, the EU chief said Monday during a trip to
New Delhi aimed at fostering deeper strategic ties.
اضافة اعلان
Ursula von der Leyen is the latest visiting Western
diplomat to press India, which gets most of its arms from Russia, over its
neutral stance on the conflict.
Both the EU and India face challenges from a rising
China, and von der Leyen raised the specter of
Beijing’s partnership with
Moscow to warn the war had consequences further afield than Europe.
“The outcome of the war will not only determine the
future of
Europe but also deeply affect the Indo-Pacific region,” she told an
audience at the Raisina Dialogue, an annual geopolitical conference in New
Delhi.
“Russia and China
have forged a seemingly unrestrained pact. They have declared that the
friendship between them has ‘no limits’... What can we expect from the ‘new
international relations’ that both have called for?”
Von der Leyen’s trip to New Delhi follows several
recent overtures from high-profile diplomatic guests seeking to lure India away
from Russia.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted his British
counterpart Boris Johnson last week, during which the pair announced a new
defence and security partnership.
Von der Leyen
said the EU was focused on strengthening its own ties with India over the
coming decade after unveiling a new special council to boost trade and tech
cooperation.
In a joint statement,
India and the Commission
“agreed that rapid changes in the geopolitical environment highlight the need
for joint in-depth strategic engagement”.
India and the bloc last year agreed to resume talks
on a free trade agreement that had been stuck since 2013 over issues like
patent protection and tariff reductions.
The economic rise of
China, and frosty relations
since a deadly 2020 border clash between the two Asian giants, have softened
India’s long-standing reluctance to cutting import barriers.
“The EU is India’s third most important trade
partner, but we can do so much more,” von der Leyen said. “Our trade is far
below our potential.”
The two sides traded goods worth about 62.8 billion
euros in 2020, according to the European Commission.
India has talks on full free trade deals underway or
due to start soon with multiple countries including Britain, Australia, and
Israel.
India and the UAE signed a “milestone” economic deal
to boost trade and investment in February.
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