India and Europe move closer amid Trumpian turbulence

Due to the objective recognition of converging interests, fuelled by Trumpian pressures, India and Europe continue to deepen their proximity in public projection and policy implementation. This was the key message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s latest visit to Europe, which had three clear segments: France, covering Nice (13-14 June), Évian and Paris (16-18 June); Slovakia (14-16 June); and participation in the G7 Summit as a special guest during his stay in Évian.

Context

President Emmanuel Macron visited India in February 2026. Within three months, PM Modi was ready to undertake yet another visit to France. It was a rare occurrence, made possible due to the schedule of the G7 Summit. The two governments went out of their way to turn PM Modi’s trip into a full-scale state visit to underline the growing substance and warmth in India-France relations. The visit to Slovakia was the first by an Indian PM to a country created on 1 January 1993 after the peaceful dissolution (‘the Velvet Divorce’) of Czechoslovakia. Besides, the G7 Summit was an excellent opportunity to hold several significant bilateral meetings on the sidelines.

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The visit took place against the backdrop of an emerging US-Iran agreement to end the Gulf war and the deepening India-US tensions, especially after the killing of three Indian seafarers by the US Navy.

India-France

The centrepiece of PM Modi’s visit to France was his official dialogue with President Macron. The latter is now in the last year of his presidential term, which ends in May 2027. He cannot contest the next election, but he may offer his candidature again in 2032. For the present, both sides wished to make the most of a special relationship that is anchored in “connection and conviction”, as PM Modi put it.

Several concrete outcomes of this visit may be listed. There was a decision to double bilateral trade, currently at $16 billion, within the next five years. A high-level joint mechanism has been established to attain this goal. It is widely believed that, with the India-EU FTA likely to become operational by the end of 2026, this is the right time to push for greater trade between India and France.

Defence cooperation is another domain that receives special attention. The media seemed keen to know if the leaders had decided on a major deal concerning the Rafale aircraft. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri put the issue in perspective by stating that media platforms would be informed when a decision was taken. Meanwhile, the Indian PM’s message to the French authorities and industry remained consistent: India wished to move towards “co-development, co-design, co-production and co-manufacturing”. Talks would continue beyond Modi’s visit.

Other fields of concentrated attention were civil nuclear energy, space, digital public infrastructure and AI. In this context, the message that much untapped potential exists was reinforced by two business-cum-technology events, ‘Bharat Innovates’ and VivaTech 2026. At the former event, Indian entrepreneurs and start-ups displayed their achievements and held substantive discussions with their French and European counterparts. This was jointly inaugurated by PM Modi and President Macron. It underscored India’s firm commitment to transforming the country into a global innovation hub. The key themes of the latter event included energy, cybersecurity, deep tech and creative industries. Addressing participants, PM Modi presented India’s vision for human-centric AI and frontier technologies and outlined the growing scope for India-France cooperation in emerging technologies.

Both leaders agreed on the salience of people-to-people ties. They emphasised the need for the Special Global Strategic Partnership to create more opportunities for the benefit of both peoples.

It is noteworthy that a total of 13 MoUs and announcements resulted from the French leg of the visit, including the India-France Innovation Roadmap 2030 and a joint working group focused on AI governance. Apart from these concrete results, the personal chemistry between the two leaders demonstrated that their personal relations and those between their countries were in excellent condition.

India-Slovakia

Slovakia (population: 5 million; area: less than 55,000 km²; GDP: $168 billion) drew India’s attention for its economic and technological achievements and its unique position in Central Europe. It is one of the countries with reservations about the EU’s full-fledged support for Ukraine through diplomacy and arms. As an observer put it, Slovakia is the EU’s “more restless member — a NATO state whose prime minister has courted Vladimir Putin, balked at arming Ukraine, and kept a wary eye on Washington’s tariffs”.

India has also been guided by the desire to expand economic and defence cooperation with Slovakia. The pathway crafted was to elevate the relationship to a ‘Comprehensive Partnership’, as spelt out in a crisp 28-paragraph-long joint statement issued at the conclusion of the visit. The Ministry of External Affairs listed 11 MoUs, including those on labour migration, defence cooperation and higher education, and three new announcements, such as the launch of a dialogue on terrorism and another on consular matters, among the principal outcomes.

It was disclosed that discussions between the two PMs indicated potential for cooperation in areas such as trade and investment, defence and security, space, civil nuclear energy, renewable energy, digital innovation, academic exchanges, culture and talent mobility. A senior Indian official briefing the media summarised the results aptly: “The visit reaffirms India’s commitment to strengthen ties with Slovakia and will provide renewed momentum to bilateral cooperation across diverse sectors.”

PM Modi called it a “historic” visit, which featured several soft-power linkages such as a painting exhibition by Slovak artists on “Varanasi”, a yoga demonstration by Slovak children, the rendering of ‘Vande Mataram’ by a local choir, and the conferment of the nation’s highest honour, the ‘Order of the White Double Cross, First Class’, on the visiting dignitary.

Other facets

Apart from full-spectrum interactions with the leaders of France and Slovakia, PM Modi also held a bilateral meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the sidelines of the G7 Summit. They noted with satisfaction the degree and momentum of progress in bilateral relations in recent months. They hoped that the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement would come into effect at an early date. Official indications were that the agreement would become operational on 15 July 2026. The two leaders also discussed the latest developments concerning West Asia and Ukraine.

PM Modi’s discussions with the presidents of the European Commission and the European Council went off well, confirming that India-EU relations were witnessing “a great time”, as the Indian Prime Minister observed. The two sides agreed that the India-EU FTA would be signed by the end of 2026 and that they would accelerate work on an investment agreement, increase security and defence cooperation, and seek progress on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC).

In a separate meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Indian PM conveyed that India would always be on the side of peace, “placing the value of humanity above everything else”.

In short, PM Modi’s latest visit to Europe has helped strengthen India’s relations with two important European countries, France and Slovakia. It was also an occasion for him to continue his dialogue with the British PM and EU leaders. Finally, his participation in G7 deliberations reflected the notable proximity of perspectives between the European members and India on several issues. Of the six outcome documents from the summit, India agreed to be a signatory to two, which concerned the call to fight cancer and a coordinated response to the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak.

(Rajiv Bhatia is a Distinguished Fellow at Gateway House. He is a former Indian Ambassador to several countries. He also served in India’s missions in Paris and Brussels. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.)