Virtual summit with Italy on cards as India woos Europe

Sandeep Dikshit
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 4

After Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla’s visit to three major countries of old Europe, India will carry forward its European diplomacy through a virtual summit between PM Narendra Modi and his Italian counterpart Giuseppe Conte.

The quick reach-out to France, Germany, Italy and the UK comes at a time of convergence of their interests with those of India in terms of moving away from their overdependence on China and to forge fresh trading and investment ties to break out of low economic growth. This shift in emphasis has also made them interested in the Indo-Pacific.

Reviving trade, investment

The reach-out to France, Germany, the UK and Italy comes at a time of convergence of their interests with those of India in terms of moving away from overdependence on China and to forge trading and investment ties to break out of low economic growth.

In Germany, for instance, Shringla welcomed Berlin’s strategy on the Indo-Pacific during 12 hours of back-to-back engagements at the Federal Chancellery, Foreign Office, and with the media and leading think tanks. Shringla mentioned Germany’s planned pivot to the region during his meetings with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Foreign and Security Policy Adviser Jan Hecker and Minister of State, German Foreign Office, Niels Annen.

In Paris, which already patrols parts of the Indian Ocean to keep an eye on its protectorates, Shringla met his counterpart Francois Delattre for in-depth discussions on the shape of the post-pandemic world and the role of India-France strategic partnership.