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The European Union on Wednesday unveiled its New India Vision, signalling a strategic deepening of EU-India cooperation across defence, maritime security, and emerging domains such as space and cyber resilience. Against a backdrop of intensifying global security threats and shifting power dynamics, Europe is recalibrating its external posture, and India is central to that effort.
The new framework highlights Europe’s intent to become a more assertive and capable actor in the Indo-Pacific, while also addressing vulnerabilities within its own defence architecture. For the EU, strengthening ties with India, the world’s largest democracy and a rising global power, is both a strategic necessity and a natural partnership.
A Comprehensive Strategic Reset
Launched in Brussels, the EU-India Strategic Vision 2025 sets the tone for an unprecedented phase of collaboration.
Key features include:
- A potential EU-India Security and Defence Partnership aimed at institutionalising regular strategic consultations, joint initiatives, and deeper alignment on shared priorities such as crisis management, maritime security, counterterrorism, and hybrid threats.
- Negotiations on a Security of Information Agreement to enable the secure exchange of classified data, a foundational step for future joint military and cyber operations.
- Annual defence consultations and dedicated foreign policy dialogues mark a shift toward sustained, high-level engagement between the two powers.
Deeper Maritime Ties in the Indo-Pacific
Maritime security lies at the heart of the EU’s Indo-Pacific recalibration. The June 2025 joint naval exercise between the Indian Navy and EUNAVFOR ATALANTA in the Indian Ocean, which focused on counter-piracy operations and tactical coordination, is now seen as the first of many such engagements.
Europe’s geographic reach in the Indo-Pacific, via its overseas territories, and India’s rising maritime presence converge in a shared commitment to protect critical sea lanes, uphold international maritime law, and counter the growing threats from shadow fleets, piracy, and militarised chokepoints.
The EU’s growing participation in India-led initiatives like the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) reflects its desire to embed itself more firmly in the regional security architecture. The EU also intends to enhance interoperability through joint sea patrols, improved information-sharing frameworks, and capacity-building projects for coastal states across the Indian Ocean.
Cyber, Space, and Hybrid Threats
Europe’s strategic partnership with India is expanding beyond traditional security into space cooperation, cybersecurity, and counter-hybrid threat initiatives.
Space, once the domain of exploration, is now a critical frontier for security. The EU and India are enhancing their collaboration on satellite-based surveillance, natural disaster response, anti-piracy efforts, and secure communications infrastructure. The partnership also aims to leverage synergies in AI-driven threat detection, resilient ICT supply chains, and trusted digital technologies, areas where India’s growing innovation ecosystem offers significant potential.
The recently intensified EU-India Cyber Dialogue aims to bolster collective resilience against cybercrime, gender-based online violence, and digital threats to critical infrastructure. A parallel track involves deeper cooperation on counterterrorism, following the tragic Pahalgam attack earlier this year, and growing concerns about terrorist financing and online radicalisation.
Industrial and Defence Supply Chain Integration
Europe and India are also seeking to bridge their defence industrial ecosystems. With India set to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2030 and housing over 45% of global capability centres, there is a mutual interest in aligning supply chains, leveraging complementary capabilities, and securing access to critical defence technologies.
An EU-India Defence Industry Forum, industry-led and supported by government observers, is being proposed to foster co-development, manufacturing partnerships, and the sharing of innovation. India’s strengths in scalable manufacturing, combined with Europe’s R&D expertise, could reshape global defence supply chains and reduce dependencies on volatile third parties.
A Strategic Necessity
Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine, coupled with instability in regions like the Taiwan Strait, South China Sea, and Red Sea, has reinforced Europe’s determination to work more closely with like-minded powers like India. The EU-India Vision directly links Indo-Pacific security with Euro-Atlantic stability, advocating for tighter coordination on sanctions enforcement, energy security, and countering authoritarian influence.
Huma Siddiqui
