India and the European Union (EU) are working on a security and defence partnership that will allow the two sides to jointly tackle common threats such as cross-border terrorism and attacks on critical infrastructure, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Friday.
The proposed partnership will build on work already being done by the two sides in areas such as maritime security and could pave the way for India joining the EU’s defence industrial projects and diversify its military supplies, Von der Leyen said while delivering a speech at an event organised by the magazine India’s World.
The two sides, she announced, are “exploring a future security and defence partnership…in the mould of the partnerships we have with Japan and South Korea”. The partnership will bolster joint efforts to counter common threats such as “cross-border terrorism, maritime security threats, cyber-attacks or the new phenomenon we see: attacks on our critical infrastructure”.
Von der Leyen said, “This is not only about stability in our respective regions. But it is also a key part in strengthening our economic security and ultimately our prosperity. And this is why security should be a core part of our new strategic partnership with India.”
She added, “There is a lot that we can build on. For instance, the recent collaboration on maritime security.”
India and the EU conducted their first joint naval exercise in the Gulf of Guinea in October 2023, and this was followed a month later by the posting of the first military attaché at the EU mission in New Delhi, reflecting the intensification of defence and security ties. The EU currently has military attachés in fewer than 15 countries.
In February 2022, the EU launched a coordinated maritime presence in the northwestern Indian Ocean to ensure a European naval presence in the Indo-Pacific. Besides regular maritime security dialogues, a joint team from India’s armed forces and the external affairs ministry visited Brussels for the first time in 2024 for talks on security issues.
