New Delhi [India]: European Union Ambassador to India and Bhutan, Herve Delphin, emphasized the strategic partnership between India and the EU in bridging global divides and aligning with the aspirations of the Global South. Speaking during the ‘State of the World’ session at the 9th Carnegie Global Technology Summit in New Delhi, Delphin reflected on the interconnected forces shaping today’s geopolitical climate.
He identified four key factors that are fueling global geopolitics: the evolution of capitalism, the growing strategic importance of technology, rising social pressures, and a changing security landscape.
“Geopolitics is fuelled by a quadrant of factors. One, how the economics are being challenged by the different versions of capitalism: the mercantilist version, state capitalism as seen in a large geographical area to the east, and the traditional open liberal system in which we’ve been living. Second, how technology has moved from the sphere of innovation and progress used for economic and social needs to something that is clearly at the intersection of security and geopolitics. The social choices also, at the end of the day, are people to be served as they live in a world of anxieties and choices and the last is, of course, the security environment, where we see new wars and new forms of wars. These four quadrants and the way the four dimensions interact don’t mean that there is a lot of confusion or uncertainty that is generated by this,” Delphin explained.
He stressed that the EU and India are well-positioned to foster meaningful engagement with the Global South.
“The EU and India are very well placed to work together to draw these bridges with the Global South, to help deliver and to make the links with the expectation of the Global South. We should not only look through the prism of competition,” he said.
Delphin further highlighted the rapid pace of change in geopolitics, calling it overwhelming for systems and institutions to handle, while pointing to the rising importance of trust as a new pillar of international relations.
“I think that what comes out of this world – there are certain elements. One is really about speed. The speed of change is so absorbing that it is even exhausting systems because it cannot simply keep up and one has to recognise that you can have the best agency possible; you will be somehow overtaken. The second is another T word, which is not Tech or Tariff but is Trust. I think this is what I would call a critical raw material of geopolitics that is now having a greater value than ever, and I think this is what is going to shape the dynamics of the world of the new world in which we are living,” the ambassador said.
The ninth edition of the Global Technology Summit (GTS)—organized in partnership with India’s Ministry of External Affairs—is being held from April 10 to 12 in New Delhi. The theme for this year, “Sambhavna” (Possibilities), focuses on the role of critical and emerging technologies in driving economic growth and influencing global politics, security, and governance.