- Security now underpins trade: The EU–India Security and Defence Partnership marks a shift from purely economic cooperation to a strategic framework where trade, supply chains, maritime routes and advanced technologies are inseparable from security.
- Italy as a strategic bridge: Within the EU–India framework, Italy emerges as a key connector between the Indo-Pacific and the Mediterranean, strengthening defence, maritime cooperation and strategic balancing in Europe’s southern neighbourhood.
- From dialogue to action: Joint naval exercises, defence-industrial cooperation and IMEC-linked connectivity turn shared principles—rules-based order and strategic autonomy—into operational cooperation.
The signing of the EU–India Security and Defence Partnership, concluded on the margins of the 16th EU–India Summit alongside the long-awaited Free Trade Agreement, marks a qualitative shift in relations between Brussels and New Delhi. While trade has understandably dominated headlines, the security dimension of the summit arguably carries even deeper strategic implications—particularly for Italy.
In an interview with Adnkronos, Italian Senator and former foreign minister Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata and Vas Shenoy, Chief Representative for Italy of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, outlined why security and defence cooperation is fast becoming the backbone of a new strategic alignment between India and Italy, embedded within the broader EU–India framework.
Beyond Trade: Security as Strategic Infrastructure
The Free Trade Agreement creates what Terzi describes as “an integrated market between two major democracies representing nearly two billion people and close to a quarter of global GDP.” But trade alone, he argues, is insufficient.
“Without a shared security framework, economic integration remains structurally vulnerable,” Terzi said. “Today, value chains, maritime routes, critical infrastructure and advanced technologies cannot function without a stable, predictable and rules-based security environment.”
The new Security and Defence Partnership reflects what both interviewees frame as a turn to strategic realism: commerce, geopolitics and defence are no longer separable domains.
Timing Matters: Europe, India and Strategic Autonomy
The agreement’s timing is anything but accidental. From a European perspective, the partnership reflects a growing awareness of the need to reduce strategic dependencies—most notably on China—and to deepen ties with reliable partners that share democratic values and a multilateral vision of global order.
India, in this context, emerges as a natural interlocutor: a central Indo-Pacific power, a key node in global supply chains and an increasingly influential geopolitical actor.
From New Delhi’s vantage point, the moment is equally significant. Shenoy notes that since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, India has engaged in a sober reassessment of its strategic dependencies.
“India is not abandoning its strategic autonomy,” he explained, “but it is clearly accelerating the diversification of partnerships, particularly with technologically advanced and politically reliable actors.”
This recalibration is also maritime in nature. India’s strategic outlook is no longer confined to East Asia but extends decisively along the Indian Ocean and the Indo-Mediterranean axis—an area of growing relevance for European energy and trade security.
Regional Balances and the Mediterranean Dimension
The interview also situates EU–India defence cooperation within a wider reshaping of regional balances in West Asia. India’s growing security ties with the United Arab Emirates, and the emerging India–UAE–Israel axis, are seen as contributing to regional stability through dialogue, deterrence and respect for international law.
These dynamics resonate directly in the Mediterranean. Terzi points to what he describes as a “less visible but highly consequential development”: Pakistan’s expanding footprint in the Mediterranean through defence cooperation with Libya’s eastern authorities, involving Chinese-origin weapon systems.
“This effectively extends the Sino-Pakistani strategic corridor—technological and potentially nuclear—into a space of direct European strategic interest,” Terzi warned. Against this backdrop, cooperation with India strengthens Europe’s strategic posture while offering New Delhi a diversified and credible set of defence partners.
What the Partnership Delivers
Substantively, the EU–India Security and Defence Partnership establishes:
- an annual structured dialogue
- enhanced cooperation on maritime security, cyber resilience and counter-terrorism
- closer coordination in response to hybrid and transnational threats
It is, as Shenoy underlined, “a practical framework, not a symbolic one.”
Maritime security is a central pillar. Strategic chokepoints such as Bab el-Mandeb and the Strait of Malacca are increasingly exposed to geopolitical pressure, piracy and non-state actors. Coordinated EU–India action, the interviewees argue, directly enhances collective resilience.
Industrial Cooperation and Strategic Autonomy
Defence-industrial cooperation represents another major opportunity. The agreement opens the door to deeper integration between India’s defence industry and European markets, fostering interoperability, innovation and supply-chain diversification.
This, Terzi noted, reflects a mature conception of European strategic autonomy: “not isolation, but the ability to act and protect through selective partnerships based on shared interests and values.”
Connectivity, IMEC and Naval Cooperation
Security and connectivity are also tightly linked. The partnership reinforces momentum behind the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), launched during India’s 2023 G20 presidency, with Italy among the early signatories.
Following the summit, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri reaffirmed connectivity as a pillar of EU–India relations, including plans to elevate IMEC governance to the political level. The corridor is increasingly framed as a strategic alternative to vulnerable routes through Suez and Bab el-Mandeb.
On the operational side, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the launch of joint EU–India naval exercises focused on counter-piracy and the protection of critical sea lanes—an unmistakable signal of strategic convergence.
Information Security and Internal Security Cooperation
The partnership is further reinforced by negotiations on an EU–India Information Security Agreement, enabling the exchange of classified information—a prerequisite for credible cooperation in defence technologies, cybersecurity and intelligence.
It also extends to internal security, strengthening cooperation with Europol and Eurojust, and enhancing joint efforts against organized crime, drug trafficking, radicalization and terrorist financing.
A Strategic Message
The overarching message, Terzi and Shenoy conclude, is unambiguous: a shared commitment to a free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific, grounded in international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
It is also a clear response to growing Chinese assertiveness. To give substance to this vision, the EU and India have agreed to launch dedicated Indo-Pacific consultations and to deepen coordination in regional forums.
“This is not just an agreement between partners,” Terzi concluded. “It is a shared assumption of strategic responsibility.”
