Watch: Brussels & European capitals—how New Delhi is leveraging a two-tier strategy in Europe

Hinzugefügt: 2026-05-22

[00:00:01][music] >> Have you ever wondered how the world's fastest growing major economy manages a crisis at home while reshaping global trade? While New Delhi scrambles to protect a sinking rupee [music] hit by energy shocks from the Iran war, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is launching a massive diplomatic offensive across Europe. And months after historic EU-India free trade agreements, this tour executes that mother of all deals by balancing Brussels with individual capitals. And if we follow the Prime Minister's itinerary day by day, the calendar reveals exactly what's at stake.

[00:00:36]>> [music] >> And over the weekend, Modi met with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. The Netherlands is a key trading partner for India with bilateral trade worth nearly $28 [music] billion.

[00:00:50]And the immediate prize is an $11 billion semiconductor deal between Tata Electronics and Dutch [music] giant ASML to build a cutting-edge microchip plant in Western India. And it is a textbook example of [music] Europe's China plus one strategy as Western companies rush to diversify supply chains away from Beijing.

[00:01:08]>> [music] >> And now the focus shifts to Sweden where today Modi is meeting Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the European Round Table [music] for Industry. And here is a side note. While capitals like Stockholm provide India with specific tech, defense, and green transition deals, Brussels provides here the regulatory alignments and massive tariff cuts needed to unlock [music] the entire European market.

[00:01:35]Huh, but hey, that's not all. Tomorrow, Modi [music] attends the India-Nordic Summit in Oslo engaging Nordic leaders on clean energy and Arctic shipping routes opened up by climate [music] change. And his grand tour will conclude on Wednesday in Italy with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni where both leaders will focus on maritime security and a joint action plan for legal migration channels. And I know it sounds complex, but one thing is certain. For European leaders facing slowing economies, rolling out the red carpet is no longer a luxury. It is a strategic necessity. And the world's most populous [music] nation becomes an indispensable geopolitical counterweight when Europe's historic [music] partners look away.

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