Convergence of opinions and interests beyond ‘differences’ over the Russian invasion of Ukraine was what conspicuously marked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-nation visit to Europe which came to an end after the Indian Premier’s much-awaited meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron late Wednesday night. In over two dozen engagements that included bilateral meetings with eight leaders during the three-day visit, PM Modi’s diplomatic endeavours saw European leaders looking beyond Ukraine, with Germany, Denmark, France, Norway, Finland, Iceland and Sweden all showing keen interest to deepen ties with India in various other sectors of significance. It won’t, therefore, be an exaggeration to say that PM Modi, rightly and appropriately, used his Europe tour to set the stage for deeper and better India-Europe ties without, of course, upsetting Russia.
At no point of time during his interactions with the European leaders did PM Modi say anything that could signal shift in India’s position on the Ukraine situation or that could be translated as India being critical of Russia. At the same time, PM Modi joined all these European leaders to condemn the civilian deaths and the Bucha killings in what reinforced the belief that India does not pull its punches when it comes to condemning any action that causes human suffering and woes anywhere on the globe, no matter who the perpetrator is. That’s the reason why India’s supply of relief materials and medicines for the people in trouble in Ukraine won laurels in Europe. So, PM Modi succeeded in walking the fine line between building ties with Europe and sticking to India’s Ukraine stand.
There was no impression from the Indian side that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is being relegated to background during the bilateral talks. The European leaders freely put their perspectives on Ukraine and outright condemned “unprovoked” military action by Russia. But amidst all this, PM Modi firmly put his points across with supporting arguments what made India take such a stand. That all the European leaders were made to shift their focus also on humanitarian issues in Afghanistan under the rule of Taliban should be seen as another diplomatic achievement that India made during PM Modi’s visit to this continent. This goes as a clear reminder of what External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had recently said referring to the West being ‘ignorant’ of the challenges that Asia has been facing for decades.
Moreover, observers are of the view, and rightly so, that the grand and warm welcome that was accorded to PM Modi in the European countries signifies and reaffirms India’s importance in the Indo-Pacific region where powerful European nations have high stakes. And, what all they cannot remain oblivious to is that they cannot go ahead with their plans and strategy in the region without India’s support. After every bilateral meeting, PM Modi’s tweets highlighting the issues including the Indo-Pacific spoke volumes about this fact.
In this context, it is important to note that while discussing the Ukraine crisis at length, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Macron spent equally substantial time stressing the need to ramp up a partnership with India on the Indo-Pacific, with China’s challenge in mind. In what underlines the success of PM Modi’s visit, bilateral issues related to trade, business and defence cooperation were at the centre of the meetings in Europe. The EU is keen on a free trade agreement with India, for which further push was given. PM Modi’s flagship schemes such as ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’ got a big boost even as French and German leaders expressed a keen interest in ramping up investments in India. What is laudable is that the Indian leadership managed to keep the focus on what could take the India-Europe ties to a much higher level even though the PM’s Europe visit happened under the shadow of the Ukraine conflict.