Building capacities: On India and Europe trade talks.  

India can gain from accelerated trade diplomacy in Europe.

The security breach where a Khalistani protester approached External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s car in London overshadowed the headlines on his week-long visit to the United Kingdom and Ireland. And the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) made its displeasure clear to the Minister’s British hosts. The scheduled visit, however, was not changed and Mr. Jaishankar side-stepped the scare, announcing that India-U.K. relations were set for a “very big pickup” despite their “complex history” and current problems. India is building its capacities in the U.K., with two consulates, in Manchester and Belfast, while Mr. Jaishankar’s extended talks with U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy focused on the much-delayed conclusion of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The Agreement, which was due to be finished after U.K.’s ‘Brexit’ in 2020, has missed deadlines. Talks over an FTA dominated discussions in Ireland too, and came days after India and the European Union (EU) committed to concluding their Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) — for which talks began in 2007 — by the end of 2025. Bilateral trade with the U.K. ($52 billion) and Ireland ($17 billion) are underpowered, and discussions on enhancing collaborations, especially in high-tech trade, were on the agenda in both capitals. The FTA talks, India-U.K. (restarted last month) and India-EU (another round this week), will benefit from India’s more conciliatory position on import duties with the U.S., which have been a sticking point for them as well. The government’s decision to reduce tariffs on wines and spirits, motor and electric vehicles, in deference to U.S. President Trump’s demands, is a case in point, and more cuts are expected in negotiating an India-U.S. BTA.

In that sense, Mr. Trump’s reordering of U.S. alliances and trade policy may well have been the wind in Mr. Jaishankar’s sails. The trip followed visits to Delhi by a high-power EU delegation led by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and a senior ministerial and business team led by Belgian Princess Astrid, that imparted the sense that Europe is looking for new, more dependable friends. Mr. Jaishankar’s visit also came close on the heels of the dramatic showdown at the White House between Mr. Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which led to an urgent summit of non-U.S. NATO countries being held in London, where U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer committed to support Ukraine with a “Coalition of the Willing”. As geopolitical and geo-financial calculations are being reworked across the Atlantic, India stands to gain by accelerated diplomacy and offering a hand of friendship to both sides.