India and Central Europe: perceptions, perspectives, prospects

This book explores the transformation of India's relations with Central and Eastern Europe from being a subset of Indo-Soviet relations during the Cold War to the rediscovery and rebuilding of relations with the region almost from scratch in the post-Cold War era. It examines how the combination of Brexit, the rise of China and India's expanding geo-economic interests in Europe has led the Narendra Modi government to contemplate relations with Central Europe through a more strategic lens and treat the region as an autonomous element within India's foreign policy rather than a footnote of its relations with other great powers. Fulfilling a long-felt gap in existing literature, this volume examines India's political, economic, investment, defence and cultural relations with the Visegrad Four (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia). It analyzes Indian perceptions of Central Europe and explores prospects of New Delhi's political and economic engagement with the region. The painstakingly compiled appendices on the exchange of bilateral visits and agreements between India and the Visegrad Four would be of immense use as a handy reference to scholars, policy-makers, and other interested persons and institutions. Rajendra K. Jain was formerly Professor and Chairperson at the Centre for European Studies, and Director, Europe Area Studies Programme, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. He was formerly Visiting Humboldt Foundation Professor at Constance (1992-1993), Freiburg, Leipzig and Tübingen universities as well as Visiting Professor at the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, Paris, Warsaw, the Asia-Europe Institute, University of Malaya, ICCR Professor of Contemporary India at Leuven University, and Adjunct Professor, Monash European and EU Studies Centre, Monash University. He has been the first Jean Monnet Chair in India and has most recently published India, Europe Asia (Palgrave, 2021), India and the European Union in a Turbulent World (Palgrave, 2020), and Changing Indian Images of the European Union: Perception and Misperception (Palgrave, 2019).

Intro -- Contents -- Notes on Contributors -- Abbreviations -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- 1 Introduction -- Outline of Chapters -- Economic Engagement -- Civil Society Linkages -- India-V4+ Engagement -- A Prime Ministerial Visit -- Towards a Strategic Partnership? -- Modi's Re-engagement -- Further Research -- References -- 2 India and Central Europe: From the Margins to the Centre in Three Stages -- The Soviet Era, 1947-1989 -- Hungarian Uprising of 1956 -- Prague Spring of 1968 -- Reform Era, 1989-2001 -- Investment Era, 2001 to the Present -- Strategic Era? -- References -- 3 Indian Perceptions of Central Europe -- Defining Central Europe -- Nehru and Central Europe -- Reservations About Indian Independence -- Establishment of Diplomatic Relations and Embassies -- Central Europe in the Ministry of External Affairs -- Relations, an Adjunct of Indo-Soviet Relations -- Nehru and Soviet Colonialism in Central Europe -- The India-China War, 1962 -- India's Image in Central Europe till the Early 1970s -- Détente in Europe -- Central-East Europe in Indian Scholarly Literature -- Teaching and Research on Central and East Europe -- Teaching of Central European Languages -- Perceptions of Trade and Economic Ties -- Post-Cold War Perceptions -- Perceptions of Trade with Central Europe in the 1990s -- Eastward Enlargement of NATO and the European Union -- Central Europe in Parliamentary Debates in the 1990s -- FICCI's Perspective -- Implications of EU Enlargement -- Opportunities in the 2010s -- The Confederation of Indian Industry -- Modi and Central Europe -- Indians Perceptions of Chinese Inroads in Central Europe -- Cultural Ties -- Conclusion -- References -- 4 India and the Czech Republic -- Nehru's 1938 Visit -- The Cold War Years -- The Nehru (1955) and Siroky (1958) Visits -- The 1960s -- Prague Spring -- The 1970s and the 1980s.