INDIA-EU Roundtable

‘Strengthening relations between Europe and India: which partnership for the Twenty First Century?’

 In partnership with LSE's European Institute, King's India Institute and LSE's India Observatory

Taking place on Friday 13 February 2015

10:00-18:30 at the Shaw Library, 6th floor, Old Building (LSE)

 Programme

9:30 – 10:00: Registration

10.00 – 10:20: Welcome and Introduction:

Professor Stuart Corbridge, Provost and Deputy Director of the LSE
Professor Maurice Fraser, European Institute, LSE
Dr. Ruth Kattumuri, India Observatory, LSE
Raphaëlle Khan, India Institute, King’s College London

10:20 – 11:45:

Session 1: The peacock and the stars: general issues, mutual perceptions, worldviews and global evolutions

This session will discuss the past and present institutional engagement and general involvement between India and the European Union (including European Member States). It will also explore self-perceptions, mutual perceptions and perceptions of global order.

Perceptions, partly a function of interactions and mutual understanding, have often been identified as one of the issues hindering the development of stronger relations between the EU and India. To a larger extent, they raise questions on the nature of India and Europe’s evolution within on the dynamics of international politics.

Chair: Professor Anand Menon, King’s College London

Participants:

Sir Michael Arthur, former High Commissioner in New Delhi

Maria Castillo-Fernandez, India Unit, European External Action Service

Karine Lisbonne-De Vergeron, Global Policy Institute

Indian High Commission (pending confirmation)

Roundtable discussion and Q&A

11:45 - 12:00: Tea –coffee

12:00 – 13.30:

Session 2: Partners in trade and development cooperation?

Trade and economic cooperation have been the main drivers behind India-EU relations. It is also the area in which changes could be the clearest in the medium term, as negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (launched in 2007) are currently underway.

In this context, this roundtable aims at discussing the sectors that have driven India-Europe trade relations, the trend and factors that could influence them in the short and longer term and the pros and cons of the EU-India Free Trade Agreement. It will also appraise the impact of the global economic crisis and the Eurozone crisis on trade dynamics and FDI flows and wonder which areas of cooperation could be new engines of a stronger partnership.

Chair: Dr. Eddie Gerba, LSE

Participants:

Dr. Michael Gasiorek, University of Sussex

Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, ECIPE

Dr. Ramon Pacheco Pardo, King’s College London

Roundtable discussion and Q&A

13:30 – 14:30: Lunch break

14:30 – 16:00:

Session 3: Security cooperation and strategic issues: which engagement? Which convergence?

As ‘strategic partners’, India and the EU have enhanced political dialogue and cooperation on peace and security-related issues. Several areas of cooperation echo shared concerns about terrorism, regional issues (such as the situation in Afghanistan) and humanitarian questions.

In this context, this roundtable can reflect on the strategic priorities of European Member States, the EU and India; the current state, evolution and issues of EU-India security cooperation and influence in South Asia and beyond; and the extent to which their approach to security has differed. Also of interest will be potential new areas of co-operation, aid strategies and the securitisation of climate-change related issues in broader regional issues. 

Chair: tbc

Participants:

Hans Kundnani, European Council on Foreign Relations

Prof Harsh Pant, King’s College London

Chris Sell, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Gideon Rachman, The Financial Times

Dr. Srinath Raghavan, Centre for Policy Research

Roundtable discussion and Q&A

16:00 – 16:15 Coffee/Tea

16:15 – 17:45:

Session 4: International institutions and global governance

Multilateral forums represent a particular stake for both the EU and India. Both have promoted multilateralism as part of a broader discourse on common values and a multipolar order. This trend partly corresponds to a growing consensus on the need to tackle global issues such as climate change and nuclear non-proliferation at the multilateral level. However, the meanings that India and the EU have attributed to multilateralism and their vision of a multipolar order may bear important differences, which appear through practice.

This roundtable will consequently focus on the real and potential divisions, complementarities and opportunities of a shared vision between the EU and India in global governance. It will question the extent to which both actors have behaved as normative powers and which meaning they attribute to that. In this respect, considering the EU-China and the India-US partnership, and changing global power shifts will be of interest. 

Chair:  Dr. Ruth Kattumuri, LSE

Participants:

Lord Meghnad Desai, LSE

Professor Athar Hussain, LSE

Nishana Jayawickrama, Commonwealth Secretariat

Dr. Benjamin Kienzle, King’s College London

Dr. Gareth Price, Chatham House

Roundtable discussion and Q&A

18:00 – 18:30:

Concluding remarks