ABSTRACT
India and the European Union (EU) have had a longstanding diplomatic relationship. Over the period since the mid-2000s, environmental issues, including climate change, have occupied a growing place on the agenda of this bilateral relationship, including in joint declarations on climate change and related themes issued at the India-EU summits of 2005, 2008, 2016 and 2017. This chapter traces the development of relations between India and the EU in these policy spheres. It argues that cooperation between India and the EU has been constrained by the somewhat problematic development of the broader India-EU relationship, which was characterised by significant tensions and conflicting priorities on a range of issues. It argues that conflicting climate and environmental policy paradigms between India and the EU constrained fruitful cooperation. However, recent years have seen a gradual convergence of policy paradigms. It is too early to judge the impact of this convergence, but indications from the 2016 and 2017 India-EU summits suggest a more fruitful era of cooperation may be underway.
