European summer

The PM's trip reflects shifting geopolitical priorities

Behind the upbeat foreign ministry readouts and the serial photo-ops, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-day, three-nation trip to Germany, Denmark, and France reflects significant shifts in geopolitical priorities and strategic convergence for India and Europe. These changes have been accelerated by the Russia-Ukraine crisis but also fit into India’s longer-term strategic calculations. Much has been made of the US and Europe’s discomfort with India’s neutral stance towards the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The outcome of Mr Modi’s visit suggests that the European Union has broadly come to recognise the strategic legacies embedded in the Indo-Russian relationship — defence ties in particular —