At a time when Europe-US ties are facing unprecedented strain, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will be in India from February 27-28, along with 27 Commissioners of the EU, called the College of Commissioners. The visit of EU’s College of Commissioners together — a member from each of the EU’s 27 member countries — to India is the first-ever. Announcing the visit, the MEA said, “This will be the first-ever visit of EU College of Commissioners together to India and among the first such visits since the start of the mandate of the current European Commission in December 2024 after the European parliamentary elections held in June 2024.” Calling the visit “first and momentous”, EU’s envoy to India Hervé Delphin said on X that the visit “. speaks for itself about the importance both the EU and India attach to taking their strategic partnership to a new level.” During the visit, PM Narendra Modi will hold delegation-level talks with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. MEA said, “The second ministerial meeting of India-EU Trade and Technology Council and bilateral ministerial meetings between the European Commissioners and their Indian counterparts will also be held during the visit.” The visit was scheduled earlier but the flurry of events surrounding the US-Russia talks in Riyadh seeking to end the Ukraine war — keeping Ukraine and Europe out — has brought a sense of urgency and purpose to the visit. US President Donald Trump’s change in stance to engage directly with Russia, has presented a unique set of challenges for Europe. Sources said the issue is “naturally” going to be part of the discussions between PM Modi and the EU chief and her delegation. India has nuanced its position on the war: moving from “two parties to the conflict” to “parties concerned”, faced with the new geo-political reality of US-Russia talks and the rapidly changing contours of the US-Europe trans-Atlantic alliance. Direct US-Russia talks have rattled Europe and upended the US policy under the Biden administration of not doing anything without Ukraine being part of the negotiations. Sources said this is acknowledgement of the new geopolitical realities that New Delhi is confronted with and the imperative for diplomatic space as it navigates its way through this change. That task is cut out. At the Swiss peace conference, India did not sign the joint communique arguing that Russia was not at the table. Now, it remains to be seen how India negotiates when Russia is at the table, but Ukraine is not. “This is most likely going to figure in the discussions, since the EU was very active at the Swiss peace conference,” the source said. It will be von der Leyen’s third visit to India after a bilateral trip in April 2022, and the G20 Leaders’ Summit in September 2023. Sources said that issues related to AI and other tech collaborations are also likely to be discussed, following up from the recent discussions at the AI Action summit in Paris earlier this month where Modi and von der Leyen were present. India and the EU have been strategic partners since 2004. “As the two sides enter the third decade of the strategic partnership, the visit of President von der Leyen and the EU College of Commissioners will pave the way for further strengthening of bilateral relations based on growing convergences,” the MEA said.
