Inaugural India-Serbia Dialogue

India and Europe in a fragmenting world order: Perspectives from India and Serbia

Remarks by Ambassador Abhishek Shukla

Prof. Dr. Dušan Proroković, Head of Centre for Eurasian Studies, Institute of International Politics and Economics (IIPE)

Ms. Jelena Marković Krstić, Head of the Department for Asia, Australia and the Pacific, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Shri Abhijit Chakraborty, Joint Secretary, Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA)

Prof. Gulshan Sachdeva, Professor and Jean Monnet Chair at the Centre for European Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)

Dr. Mihajlo Vucic, Deputy Director of the IIPE

Namaste!

Dobar dan!

I would also like to acknowledge the presence today of two eminent Indologists- Prof. (Dr.) Momir Nikic and Prof. (Dr.) Aleksandar Petrovic.  Thank you for being with us today.

Friends,

I must say that I am delighted with the convening of this Inaugural India-Serbia Dialogue between our two eminent think-tanks. I extend a warm welcome to the ICWA delegation to this beautiful city of Belgrade, and its lovely weather. I would also like to express my gratitude to the IIPE for their receptivity to our proposal and their hospitality. I recall my meeting with Dr. Gordana Misev in May this year where we had toyed with several ideas for our mutual collaboration and I am pleased that one of those came to fruition within a short span of time.

I also congratulate the organisers for their choice of a very appropriate theme- India and Europe in a fragmenting world order. Looking at this theme from the perspectives of our two nations makes this exercise all the more enriching since both of us in our own ways are deeply entrenched in Europe.

In Serbia’s case, it is obvious. Serbia has over the ages been shaped by Europe and has also shaped Europe. Serbia’s strategic location also implied that it served as the confluence of West and East and at times, Europe’s first line of defence. Now, in the next step, as Serbia dwells on the question of accession into the European Union, the internal dynamics and the external geo-political factors bring in new dimensions.

Likewise, India’s recent history was shaped, mostly in inglorious terms I must add, by a few countries in Europe. And India’s civilizational knowledge and wisdom has enriched Europe in countless ways. Over 4 million Indian troops were mobilised and more than 161,000 made the ultimate sacrifice across both the world wars. In current times, EU is our largest trading partner and a leading source of FDI. Our relationship with Europe, based on shared values and principles such as democracy, strategic autonomy, rule of law, rules-based international order and multilateralism, is underpinned by collaboration in areas such as trade, science & technology, space, energy and climate, connectivity, skills and mobility, people-to-people connect and so on.

Now, all of us seem to be in agreement that the world order, as we have known since second world war is fragmenting. I think that there is also agreement on the causative factors. These go beyond just geo-politics or geo-economics.  Competition for technology and resources, disruptions in supply chains, patterns of migration, asymmetric and non-state or sometimes quasi-state actors like radicalism and terrorism, existential crises like climate change, all these are contributing to the process of fragmentation. The framework of multilateral institutions with UN at its apex seems to be crumbling too on account of its abject failure in recognizing the new realities.

However, as happens with any transition, as had happened with the last such transition, there will be new actors, new vectors, new challenges and new opportunities. While the current world order has had its genesis in developments in Europe, to many it would appear that Europe now stands a risk of being a recipient of the outcomes of the ongoing transition. It will be a pity, not just for Europe, but also for India, if this were to eventually transpire. In Europe we see a reliable and sturdy partner who shares our values and aspirations.  A partner with which we agree on many things, and have the mutual trust to diverge on a few. A partner who is bound to play a significant role in India’s development journey.

It is exactly at such junctures that trusted relationships assume far greater salience. A relationship like India and Serbia. We do not just share NAM legacy, we also are partners in Global South. We have linguistic commonalities. We also have commonalities of interests, concerns and aspirations. We have enormous regard and goodwill for each other. And we have the ambitions to take the relationship to a new level.

To me, it would appear that in a world that is increasingly being pulled in disparate directions, the binding force between nations such as ours, characterised by mutual trust and respect and an inclination to broaden and intensify the scope of engagement becomes a countervailing force.

Hence, I am glad that today we have this opportunity to exchange views and perspectives. I hope this is one of many and we continue such dialogues at a regular periodicity.

Thank you!

Hvala vam!