Stories
Inside Delhi’s Diplomatic Reset: Europe Converges and America Drifts
- •External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has urged India to shed the Panipat Syndrome of reacting too late to external threats, guiding a dynamic shift in the nation's foreign policy.
- •Between 2022 and 2024, Jaishankar frequently criticized Europe for moral exceptionalism and double standards regarding Russian energy imports, calling out Western hypocrisy.
- •By mid-2025, New Delhi's relations with Brussels improved significantly, leading to a new Security and Defence Partnership and greater strategic convergence by early 2026.
- •Conversely, tensions with Washington escalated due to policy shifts on Russian crude penalties, lack of empathy for cross-border terrorism from Pakistan, and the weaponization of trade.
- •While the Indo-American partnership plateaus and becomes more transactional, India is actively hedging against US unpredictability by strengthening ties with Europe and adapting to a changing geopolitical chessboard.
Key Questions Answered
Between 2022 and 2024, Jaishankar frequently criticized Europe for its double standards on Ukraine and Russian energy imports. However, by mid-2025, Europe and Bharat pursued strategic convergence, signing a Security and Defence Partnership in January 2026, while tensions with Washington grew over trade, tariffs, and a lack of empathy for cross-border terrorism.
Jaishankar outlined three major fault lines affecting relations with Washington: insufficient American empathy for Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism, trade and tariff disputes involving the weaponization of economic leverage, and the erosion of the rules-based global order.
Bharat and the European Union signed a new Security and Defence Partnership in January covering areas such as maritime security, cyber cooperation, and counterterrorism, leading to designation as natural and preferred partners by February 2026.
