India and the European Union bear a particular responsibility: as international relations change, not least because of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the two largest democracies in the world have the unique potential to jointly demonstrate that trusting cooperation and mutual understanding are both indispensable and fruitful-all the more so in the context of increasing national egoism and disregard for the fundamental principles of multilateralism. This realisation is not new. Believing in the necessity and mutual benefit of close cooperation, India and the EU struck a strategic partnership in 2004. But resounding success in forging closer bilateral ties and promoting an inclusive, rules-based global order has proved elusive. Since 2016, however, the EU's Global Strategy has offered new opportunities for a restart of European foreign policy, envisaging new partnerships and recalibrating existing ones. On India's part, too, changing stances have presented new openings-with New Delhi criticising protectionism and calling for a strengthening of multilateralism. This timely book scrutinises the status quo and the future potential of revitalised EU-India relations. By exploring and analysing conceptual approaches to and key dimensions of the strategic partnership, including trade, climate policy and development cooperation, it evaluates the prospects for future cooperation. Lastly, it offers policy recommendations for advancing the partnership between India and the EU.

The book analyses how India’s rise to the status of an emerging power has affected New Delhi’s Africa policy, after sketching the historical evolution and normative underpinnings of Indo-African relations, and what challenges it has brought for New Delhi’s engagement with the continent. India and Africa share a history dating back millennia. Today, India is one of Africa’s biggest trading partner countries, second only to China. The country regularly extends lines of credit worth billions to African nations, and its pharmaceutical producers dominate many African markets; almost one-fifth of India’s oil imports and more than one-quarter of its natural gas imports come from the continent. However, relations between India and Africa are far from being limited to economic cooperation. The book scrutinises three foreign policy fields: (1) India’s foreign economic policy towards Africa with an in-depth analysis of Indo-African trade, investment and lines of credit; (2) New Delhi’s development cooperation policy vis-à-vis Africa, its principles, instruments and volume; (3) India’s politico-diplomatic foreign and security policy vis-à-vis Africa, including New Delhi's high-level diplomacy, security and diaspora policy as well as multilateral Africa policy.

Das Buch richtet den Fokus auf die Potenziale der Europäischen Union für das 21. Jahrhundert. Ausgehend von den inneren und äußeren Krisen, denen sich die EU gegenübersieht, bietet der Band einen analytischen und umfassenden Überblick zu aktuellem Zustand und zu Perspektiven der europäischen Integration. Dem Band liegt der Kerngedanke zugrunde, dass es trotz oder gar wegen der aktuellen Krisen zahlreiche Potenzialthemen gibt, die neues Vertrauen in die EU schaffen können. Diese oft unerkannten oder missverstandenen Kraftreserven der Union werden von einschlägigen Expert*innen identifiziert, analysiert und diskutiert.

India and the European Union bear a particular responsibility: as international relations change, not least because of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the two largest democracies in the world have the unique potential to jointly demonstrate that trusting cooperation and mutual understanding are both indispensable and fruitful-all the more so in the context of increasing national egoism and disregard for the fundamental principles of multilateralism. This realisation is not new. Believing in the necessity and mutual benefit of close cooperation, India and the EU struck a strategic partnership in 2004. But resounding success in forging closer bilateral ties and promoting an inclusive, rules-based global order has proved elusive. Since 2016, however, the EU's Global Strategy has offered new opportunities for a restart of European foreign policy, envisaging new partnerships and recalibrating existing ones. On India's part, too, changing stances have presented new openings-with New Delhi criticising protectionism and calling for a strengthening of multilateralism. This timely book scrutinises the status quo and the future potential of revitalised EU-India relations. By exploring and analysing conceptual approaches to and key dimensions of the strategic partnership, including trade, climate policy and development cooperation, it evaluates the prospects for future cooperation. Lastly, it offers policy recommendations for advancing the partnership between India and the EU.