ABSTRACT

This chapter will show that Brexit has not fundamentally altered India’s rather limited interest in the EU as a foreign policy actor. Europe still does not rank very high on the list of India’s most significant partners whilst its engagement with the EU is generally based on a case-by-case approach. Brexit has, however, clearly reinforced Indian perceptions of the UK’s gradual loss of global influence and economic power historically. This is tied up with India’s crucial links with the US, and also to its views that a hard Brexit would further isolate the UK from the rest of Europe where Indian interests are now shifting. The impact is, however, much more pronounced in economic and geostrategic terms. Brexit has increased India’s economic interests in two partners: Germany, who was and still is India’s first European trading partner, and France, which was already before Brexit the European country considered by Indian defence experts as their most natural European partner in military and security issues. This view is now likely to increase. Many Indian experts further expect that EU–India cooperation will increasingly focus on consolidating a rules-based global order. Overall, despite some loss of economic clout, the EU is expected to remain India’s main trading partner.