During the visit of the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen to India in February, the two sides had committed to explore a security and defence partnership and in this context, India needs to look at the opportunities outlined in the EU defence white paper of March 2025 on European Defence – Readiness 2030. The target is to mobilize additional defence expenditure up to 1.5 percent of the GDP, which is occasioned by the Ukraine war and the strains in transatlantic partnership. NATO members are increasing defence spending to 2-3 percent of GDP. Defence investment could reach at least 800 billion dollars over the next 4 years. From the 2026 Global Strategy to the 2022 Strategic Compass, EUs defence posture has evolved incrementally.
India EU Defence Cooperation: Partnering EU’s Security Push | Vivekananda International Foundation
