India and Europe are widely seen as sharing democratic values, providing a solid foundation for deeper cooperation. Yet Europe is still perceived in India as relatively weak in both economic and military terms, especially when compared to major powers such as the United States and China. This gap between shared values and perceived power continues to limit Europe’s strategic appeal.

India’s rapid rise as a global power presents both a major opportunity and a strategic challenge for EU–India relations, according to a recent survey of Indian elites. The survey, conducted on behalf of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom’s New Delhi office and India's Kalinga Kusum Foundation, covered nearly 1,400 representatives from India’s political, business and academic sectors.

The findings were presented in Brussels by Stefan Schott, Project Director of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom’s New Delhi office. The presentation was followed by a discussion featuring Sujeet Kumar, Rajya Sabha MP from Odisha, and Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, German Member of the European Parliament. The debate was moderated by Nupur Hasija, Head of Programmes at the foundation’s New Delhi office.

The discussion centred on India’s emergence as a global power and its growing importance as a strategic partner for Europe.

Sujeet Kumar, who has previously worked at the World Economic Forum and the UN Development Programme, underlined the strategic and value-based depth of the India–EU partnership. He described India as a reliable pillar for shared prosperity, innovation and democratic resilience.

Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, who heads the European Parliament’s Defence Committee, called for stronger political and defence cooperation between the EU and India.

India’s Global Ambitions

The survey reveals strong confidence among Indian decision-makers about the country’s future trajectory. Nearly 70 percent of respondents believe India will become a global power within the next two decades.

However, there is no clear consensus on what role India should ultimately play. Respondents were almost evenly divided between three visions: India as a global power, as the voice of the Global South, or as a dominant regional power in South Asia. The split reflects continuing strategic ambiguity in India’s long-term geopolitical positioning.

Shared Values, Limited Strategic Appeal

More than 74 percent of respondents saw strong value alignment between India and Europe — significantly higher than perceptions regarding the United States, China or Russia.

Despite this, Europe is not viewed as a particularly strong geopolitical actor. Economically, respondents ranked Europe behind both the United States and China. Militarily, Europe was ranked fourth, after China, the United States and Russia.

The findings point to a clear disconnect between normative alignment and material power. While India appreciates Europe’s democratic values, it does not yet see Europe as a sufficiently influential strategic actor.

Pragmatic Expectations From Europe

Indian expectations from Europe remain primarily pragmatic rather than ideological. Respondents identified key areas for cooperation as:

• stronger trade and investment ties;
• access to technology and manufacturing expertise;
• collaboration on climate protection and sustainability.

The survey suggests that India sees Europe more as an economic and technological partner than as a geopolitical leader.

Russia Remains A Key Divergence

The sharpest divergence between India and Europe concerns Russia. More than 80 percent of respondents described Russia as a reliable partner despite limited value alignment.

The survey attributes this perception to several factors:

• historical ties and longstanding strategic cooperation;
• pragmatic geopolitical calculations;
• concerns about a possible China–Russia alignment against India.

India’s foreign policy, the survey suggests, remains largely interest-driven rather than value-driven. Europe’s normative approach towards Russia therefore often clashes with India’s strategic pragmatism.

The report argues that greater mutual understanding will be necessary to prevent this divergence from undermining EU–India relations.

Regional Security Concerns

The survey also highlights persistent regional instability. About 68 percent of respondents believe border disputes with Pakistan and China could escalate into conflict, while nearly half foresee the possibility of a full-scale conflict with Pakistan within the next decade.

These concerns create both opportunities and dilemmas for Europe. On the one hand, growing security threats could push India towards deeper defence cooperation with European partners. On the other, Europe remains cautious about becoming entangled in South Asia’s regional conflicts.

Need For Strategic Realism

The survey concludes that shared democratic values and economic complementarities provide a strong basis for expanding EU–India relations. However, Europe’s perceived economic and military weakness continues to constrain its influence in Indian strategic thinking.

Regional tensions may encourage closer defence cooperation, but they could also complicate broader political engagement.

The report argues that Europe will need to strengthen its geopolitical credibility if it wishes to emerge as a more influential partner for India. At the same time, both sides must develop a more realistic understanding of each other’s strategic compulsions and limitations.

Questions Over Representativeness

A notable limitation of the survey, however, lies in its relatively small sample size. It raises an important question: how far can the views of just 1,400 respondents represent the opinions of a country with a population of 1.4 billion?

While elite surveys are designed to capture broader policy trends rather than mass public opinion, concerns about representativeness, sampling diversity and possible bias remain relevant. Without greater clarity on how the respondents were selected, caution is warranted in generalising the findings to the wider Indian population.

Friedrich Naumann Foundation is a German political foundation that promotes liberal values, economic openness, education and dialogue. Through collaborations such as this survey, it seeks to foster informed debate and strengthen mutual understanding between India, Germany and Europe.

(The author is an Indian journalist and long-time resident in Brussels who has been covering European and EU affairs for the past four decades. Views expressed are personal.)