India’s Rise, the European Union and the BRICS: An uneasy relation

The aim of this paper is to provide an assessment of the current diplomatic and strategic relations between India and the EU. It shows that there are fundamental deficits on both sides – most of them domestic - that impede their explicit or implicit foreign policy, security and global projections as well as their abilities to work together effectively.
The first section gives a brief introduction to the present international crisis and discusses India’s endeavor to become a Great power. The second provides the theoretical and conceptual tools for the analytical framework and its implications for the study of India’s foreign policy. Third, the paper explores the institutional base of recent shifts in India’s foreign policy. Fourth, the focus shifts to the geo-political and security relationship between India and the EU and asks why no real engagement is taking place. Fifth, it provides an understanding of the strategic partnership and discusses whether a rising India needs a Europe in decline. Sixth, it offers some tentative remarks on the recent shifts in interactions between the core players and the BRICS in the emerging world order and how these changes impact the India-EU relation. Finally, some concluding remarks are offered.