A new indispensable power

No other capital should matter as much to New Delhi as Brussels

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is visiting New Delhi this week. She arrives on the heels of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s two-day visit. Mr Johnson got the full treatment — a side trip to Gujarat, including an ill-judged photoshoot with a bulldozer. Ms von der Leyen, while she will of course meet the president and the prime minister, is not being given quite lavish a red carpet.

Yet the fact is that post-Brexit Britain is not as important for India’s future economic trajectory as the European Union (EU). In fact, the EU might be more