10/21/2016 AfterBrexit:India'ssolidaritywithBritainandEurope|HeinrichBllFoundation

After Brexit: India's solidarity with Britain

and Europe
04. Aug. 2016 by C. Raja Mohan

After the UK vote for leaving the European

Union, India, with historically close ties to
Britain has to reassess its relations with
both sides. A weakening of either the EU
or the UK is against India's interests,
which could lead to a revivication of the
Commonwealth and to new multilateral
free trade areas.

As India works out the long term

implications of the British vote to leave the Double-decker bus in the city of Mumbai. Creator:
European Union for economic globalisation, Patrik M. Loeff. This image is
regional institutions and international licensed under Creative Commons License.
security, Delhi must extend strong
solidarity with Britain and Europe, both of whom are likely to be weakened in the near term.

The idea of an 'ever closer union' between the European states has been an unchanging
element of the Eurasian landscape for long. If the fracturing of Europe makes India's security
environment a lot more uncertain than it was before the Brexit vote, strengthening strategic
partnerships with Britain and Europe must be central to any new Indian effort to shape the
Eurasian balance of power as well securing the Indo-Pacic.

The impending economic divorce between London and Brussels will be long, painful and involve
much recrimination. For India, though, Britain and Europe are among its most important
partners. Finding ways to rejuvenate the economic and political ties to both should now be at
the top of India's diplomatic agenda.

Russia and China could capitalize on emerging fractures

Many British leaders demanding separation from Europe had argued that the loss from the
severance of the European market can easily made up by Britain's independent economic
engagement with the rest of the world, including United States, China and India.

Although President Barack Obama had publicly cautioned Britain against leaving the European
Union, there is considerable support for the decision especially from sections of the
Republicans, including the presidential nominee, the partys presidential nominee, Donald
Trump who had hailed the vote as 'fantastic'.

Irrespective of who wins the election in November, Washington would want to ensure that the
https://www.boell.de/en/2016/08/04/afterbrexitindiassolidaritybritainandeurope 1/3
10/21/2016 AfterBrexit:India'ssolidaritywithBritainandEurope|HeinrichBllFoundation
Irrespective of who wins the election in November, Washington would want to ensure that the
damage from Brexit is limited in the short run and strengthen ties with both London and
Brussels so that the fractures in the Western world do not end up delivering big benets to
Russia and China.

Russia, which in recent years has probed the cleavages between America and Europe as well
as those in EU, is well poised at least for some political gains in the short run.

Beijing which has made major inroads into Britain over the last few years and was celebrating
the prospects for a 'golden decade' in the bilateral relationship is well poised to become even a
stronger partner to London in the coming years. Continental Europe, which has been a major
political and economic focus of Chinese diplomacy in recent years, is quite central to Beijings
OBOR (one belt, one road) strategy to integrate the Eurasian land mass and the Indo-Pacic.

Free trade agreement between India and the UK

As London recrafts its international orientation, a rising India, with its 2.4 trillion dollar
economy and an expanding political footprint around the world can be a valuable partner. The
same applies to Brussels. Although Delhi and Brussels have had a notional strategic
partnership, after Brexit the case of rejuvenating is an important imperative for both.

Delhi, which has much good will among the Brexiteers must make its move sooner than later.
On the economic front, India must signal its readiness to negotiate a quick free trade
agreement with Britain. Although India can in no way substitute for Europe or match China's
resources, it can offer a measure of economic comfort at this difcult juncture.

India must match economic reassurance with a political exploration of the possibilities for
strengthening the Commonwealth as a political institution. While independent India has sought
membership of every global club since its independence, it has largely looked down on the
Commonwealth that it had inherited from the Raj.

Revivication of the Commonwealth

As a club of globally dispersed states from the South Pacic to the Caribbean and the Southern
Africa to the Middle East and South East Asia, the Commonwealth was long ripe for Indian
leadership.

Reviving the Commonwealth at this moment might be lot more demanding that it would have
been a few years ago; but it is never too late. The rst step is to initiate a high level consultation
among key members of the Commonwealth including Britain, Canada, Australia and India.

If nostalgia for the Commonwealth, hopes for restoring the special relationship with the US and
expanding the nancial and commercial engagement with China give something to fall back
upon, Europe after Brexit nds itself in a difcult corner.

https://www.boell.de/en/2016/08/04/afterbrexitindiassolidaritybritainandeurope 2/3
10/21/2016 AfterBrexit:India'ssolidaritywithBritainandEurope|HeinrichBllFoundation

The EU at its weakest moment

The growing populist pressures, hostility towards the European bureaucracy in Brussels, anger
against the power of international terrorist groups to target cites with impunity, and the
growing resistance to movement of refugees from the South has put great strain on European
political leadership. Making matters worse is the European inability to either confront an
increasingly assertive Russia or the nding a much needed political accommodation.

Long the model for regionalism and the possibilities for transcending the traditional notions of
territorial sovereignty, the European project has never looked as shaky as it does today.

To be sure, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the military alliance between America and
Europe, could endure even amidst the weakening of the EU. Despite much talk the EU has
never looked capable of replacing the NATO.

But now NATO itself looks vulnerable, amidst the growing American skepticism about its utility.
Trump has been at the forefront of demanding a new framework for security burden sharing
between America and Europe.

A weakening of both the EU and Britain is against Indias interest

As Germany and France struggle to deal with the political shock waves from the British vote
and fend off potential copy cats elsewhere in Europe, Delhi must reach out to Berlin and Paris,
who have been staunch supporters of India's political aspirations in recent years. An early
conclusion of a free trade agreement with Europe would be a strong vote of condence from
India.

Delhi must also end its reluctance to engage NATO on security affairs and explore possibilities
for collaboration with new European defence structures. A new multilateral partnership with
NATO must be seen as a strong reinforcement of Indias growing bilateral security ties with the
US, France, Britain and Germany.

India has most to lose, from both the geopolitical and geoeconomic perspective, of any
weakening of Britain and European Union that could alter the balance of power in Eurasia and
the Indo-Pacic to the detriment of Indias interests. Limiting that possibility will remain a
signicant strategic priority for Delhi in the coming years.

This is a revised version of an article rst published on indianexpress.com.

All rights reserved.

Add new comment

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Find out more

https://www.boell.de/en/2016/08/04/afterbrexitindiassolidaritybritainandeurope 3/3