EU, India to boost defence ties: envoy

The European Union’s (EU) defence and security cooperation with India in the Indo-Pacific is expected to increase amid a worsening of the security environment in the region, said Richard Tibbels, the grouping’s special envoy for the Indo-Pacific.

“The EU has a clear interest in an Indo-Pacific region where sovereign, independent countries have the strength to protect their national interests, free of coercion,” Tibbels told Mint.

“As the world is facing major geopolitical inflection points, we see India as a key partner in implementing the EU’s strategy for the Indo-Pacific. This is reflected also in the 2022 EU Strategic Compass, where India is specifically mentioned. We have already stepped up our security cooperation in recent years with a first joint naval exercise in the Gulf of Guinea, and India has also participated in an exercise with EU Operation Atalanta in the north-west Indian Ocean.”

Over the last few years, India and the EU have launched joint maritime exercises, including in the Gulf of Guinea and the north-west Indian Ocean, and set up a number of dialogues on defence and security.

The 27-nation grouping has also launched projects aimed at improving security cooperation with Indo-Pacific countries.

“You are likely to see an increase in the EU’s security and defence cooperation with India and greater engagement across the Indo-Pacific,” Tibbels said. A key aspect of this will be space security.

“Cooperation on space security issues should also certainly be explored between India and the EU as we both have high stakes in the space domain,” he added.

Richard Tibbels, EU’s special envoy for Indo-Pacific, said he sees India as a key partner in EU’s strategy