India and the Emerging World Order
The world is in turmoil. Supply chins, markets and growth opportunities are all being reconfigured.
In addition to the suffering and chaos caused by the ongoing wars in Ukraine, Gaza, Iran and Sudan, and the aggression waged upon Venezuela and Cuba, we see a breakdown in the international rules-based order based on institutions such as those of the UN, the ICJ and the WTO.
We see the emergence of right-wing groups, fascist and populist tendencies in the US and Europe. We see a contempt for national law, and the erosion of basic human rights such as freedom of speech and freedom of association, the de-banking of individuals without due process, and we see the capture of mature nation states by powerful interest groups and lobbies.
That we are living in a time of transition, has been acknowledged by an increasing number of political leaders, economists and intellectuals. By
- Mark Carney in his recent speech at Davos,
- Yanis Varoufakis former Greek minister of finance in his 2023 book entitled “Technofeudalism: What killed Capitalism,”
- Alexander Stubb, the current President of Finland, in his 2026 book entitled “Triangle of Power” referring to a tri-polar world comprising a global west, a global east and a global south,
- Josep Borel former VP of the European Commission, and Ursula Van der Leyen, the current President of the European Commission, and
- Many others.
Quietly, in the background of all of this, and building up over many years, we see the emergence of alliances, with key roles being played by China, Russia, Brazil, Barbados and India. Many of these alliances are motivated by have security and defence concerns. Many are attempts to work around the dollar dominated international payment system. Some are more technical based on a global south approach to climate change and environmental degradation.
From an EU perspective, one of the most important of these is the comprehensive free trade deal concluded with India in January 2026. This effectively unites the EU and India in a free trade area that includes almost 2 billion people, 25% of the world’s population representing 25% of world’s GDP.
This deal covers trade in goods and services, IP, investment and defence. It is accompanied by efforts to facilitate student exchanges, the movement of workers, and cooperation in research and innovation.
This is a unique opportunity for Europe characterized sluggish growth to engage with fast growing markets and invest in regions where quality of life, prosperity and consumption is growing and will continue to grow for the coming decades.
But this creates a challenge for European businesses and entrepreneurs. India is a continent of great diversity. It has 22 official languages, 6 major religions and at least five major climate zones. Europeans hardly know or understand India and do not understand how quickly it is changing, the pace of government reforms, its ambitions for the future, and its unique capabilities in science, technology and engineering.
This is why, CKA is working with Aksinya Star to organize a Viennese style EU-India salon. This is designed to help European businesses understand modern India and the nature of the opportunity the recently signed FTA has created for them.
The salon consists of a series of after-work events that bring together a limited number of business executives, in a comfortable setting for a 40-minute impulse talk by an experienced India hand, followed by discussion and dinner. To find out more, you can click through to the salon website.
Link to EU-Indian salon
This collaboration is inspired by an interview with Aksinya Star for the Club of Amsterdam.