Abstract
China and India are both important for the European Union because of their demography, large domestic markets of a billion plus each, large consumers of energy, and because they are vital for dealing with regional problems and global issues. There is a qualitative difference in the EU’s engagement of China and India. This chapter examines Indian perceptions of EU-China relations and the image of China and India in Europe. It analyses Indian perceptions of the Europeans’ mirage of socializing China and the implications of Chinese inroads in Central Europe. In concludes with Indian assessments of European perspectives of a China-centric world order.
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Notes
- 1.
Interview with senior official of the European Council, Brussels, 24 November 2006.
- 2.
Conversation with a former Chair of SAARC Delegation in the European Parliament, Brussels, 23 November 2006.
- 3.
A Long-term Policy for Europe-China Relations, 12 October 1995; Building a Comprehensive Partnership with China, 25 March 1998; EU Strategy towards China: Implementation of the 1998 Communication and Future Steps for a more Effective EU Policy (May 2001); A Maturing Partnership—Shared Interest and Challenges in EU-China Relations (September 2003); EU-China: Closer Partners, Growing Responsibilities, 24 October 2006; Elements for a New Strategy on China (22 June 2016); EU-China—A Strategic Outlook (12 March 2019).
- 4.
EU-India Enhanced Partnership, 26 June 1996; An EU-India Strategic Partnership, June 2004; Elements for a New Strategy on India, 22 November 2018.
- 5.
China’s EU Policy Paper (13 October 2003); Deepen the China-EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Mutual Benefit and Win–Win Cooperation, 2 April 2014; 18 December 2018.
- 6.
Indian Response to EU Communication on a Strategic Partnership, August 2004.
- 7.
For instance, officials from the European Commission responsible for initiating and implementing the EU’s China policy made 206 trips to China in 2004, on average four visits per week (cited in Subhan 2005). Between 2002 and 2004, there were twelve visits to India by EU Commissioners and the High Representative for CFSP Javier Solana, whereas there were nine Commissioner visits to China alone in the first half of 2004. However, in recent years with India and EU talking across the board, the number of visits of Commissioners and officials has increased, but it still does not equal those to China.
- 8.
Political columnist, Media Elite, New Delhi, 16 March 2012.
- 9.
Interview with Kumar Sundaram, 26 June 2015.
- 10.
Conversation with a former Indian Ambassador to the EU, New Delhi, 24 June 2015.
- 11.
Interview, civil society elite, New Delhi, 27 June 2015.
- 12.
Elaborating on what ‘systemic rival’ meant, Borrell wondered whether ‘systemic’ rivalry was rivalry between systems or ‘a systematic rivalry’. He acknowledged that while China had ‘a global ambition’, but he did not believe that China was playing ‘a role that can threaten world peace’. The Chinese sought to play ‘a global role, but they do not have military ambitions and they do not want to use force and participate in military conflicts’. Brussels and Beijing had ‘differences on interests and on values’. Cooperation with China, he added, was necessary to tackle climate challenge and a multilateral world could not be built without effective Chinese participation ‘not in a “Chinese way”, but in a way that can be accepted by everybody’ (Borrell 2020a).
- 13.
‘Foreign actors and certain third countries, in particular Russia and China, have engaged in targeted influence operations and disinformation campaigns around COVID-19 in the EU, its neighbourhood and globally, seeking to undermine democratic debate and exacerbate social polarization, and improve their own image in the COVID 19 context’ (European Commission 2020b).
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Jain, R.K. (2021). India and EU-China Relations: Perceptions and Misperceptions. In: Jain, R.K. (eds) India, Europe and Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4608-6_3
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