'IMEC could be collateral of the conflict in Israel'

The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) could be impacted by the conflict in Israel though the stakeholders should continue their groundwork needed to make the project take off, the European Union (EU)’s new envoy to India, Herve Delphin, has said. 

- Rezaul H Laskar

In an interview to Rezaul H Laskar, Delphin also spoke of the EU’s plans to bolster relations with India in trade and investment, security and defence, and measures to tackle common global challenges such as climate change and green development.

What will be the EU’s focus areas in the next few years and which areas hold the most promise for the relations with India? 

I think there are three main areas that have great potential. The first is the cluster of economic and trade issues, and it’s pretty clear India is in demand because of its formidable growth. It has to attract investment and technology partners and for that, the EU is an interesting partner for India. The second is everything to do with security and defence. Till not too long ago, we weren’t on India’s radar screen for security, but I think Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine has been revealer of what the EU stands for. Here we don’t propose the same thing as some EU member states, but we can provide leverage at the EU level through funding and coordinated actions like the maritime presence through Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) operations or missions like Atalanta. The very changing nature of security threats means that it’s not just the traditional hard power associated with defence that is of interest. In Brussels, we are one party and the other party is Nato, which is more into traditional defence while we have been covering hybrid issues such as cyber security, counterterrorism and maritime security. The third is the global challenge or the global commons, where India engages with the rest of the world in addressing global issues. That gives an opportunity for us to engage with India because we come from the same belief and commitment to act at the multilateral level to address global challenges such as climate change, migration and sustainable development.