European countries have no idea how to woo India
draw India closer. In June Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, undertook a state visit to Washington, where he was feted by the White House, Congress and business leaders alike. Europe, too, has been trying to get cosier.
Last month Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, hosted Mr Modi for a state visit. In February Olaf Scholz, Germany’s chancellor, made a trip to Delhi, India’s capital, followed in March by Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s prime minister. Soon after the war began last year, Ursula von der Leyen made her first official visit as president of the European Commission, bringing seven European foreign ministers in tow.
Ministers and officials from Hungary, Spain and the Nordics have also beaten a path to Delhi. America is courting India partly because it wants to deepen business links with the world’s fastest-growing major economy. But close ties with India are also important to its strategy for dealing with Mr Xi.
The White House hopes that India can become an alternative base for supply chains as they diversify away from China. And it wants to strengthen security ties with India, whose relations with China have been fraught in recent years. During Mr Modi’s visit in June the two countries signed a number of defence deals, including to manufacture jet engines in India.
Crucially, President Joe Biden refrained from criticising Mr Modi on his government’s human-rights record or the erosion of democratic norms. Europe’s goals are similar to America’s, but not identical. It, too, would like to boost trade links with India and see supply chains reshaped.
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