ABSTRACT
The European Union regards itself as a unique actor in international relations, and this image is based on the assumption that the EU’s foreign policy follows norms and principles based on multilateralism. India is considered a “strategic partner” of the EU, one of the four that the EU has in Asia, in addition to China, South Korea and Japan. In the last years, the self-representation of EU has been challenged in sectors such as migration, agriculture, trade or energy policies, in a context in which the economic growth of India has increased dramatically, and together with it its self-perception as a global player. In terms of worldviews, India favors realpolitik, due to its geo-political position, but Europe prefers multilateral diplomatic principles. In spite of the EU’s plans to promote its soft power in the global arena and to endorse the “strategic partnerships”, it still has to answer sensitive issues such as protectionism and trade imbalances in order to discard the neo-colonial stigma. In spite of the effort of engagement between India and the European Union, the visibility of the latter in India’s public opinion is still low. It can be stated that the EU is not a priority for Indian foreign policy, for the general public or for its political-cultural elite. In terms of security, the EU–India cooperation is not vital neither, as the EU doesn’t play the role of external balance in Asia, like the US does. From a methodological perspective, the present chapter deals critically with the normative discourse of EU, showing in the same time the shift India takes to be a more norm-setter player in the internal arena.
