New Delhi, March 9 -- Over the past year, Europe-India relations have entered a markedly upbeat phase. What was once a diffuse partnership - long on rhetoric, short on strategy - now appears far more purposeful. From the announcement of a long-delayed EU-India Free Trade Agreement to expanding cooperation on security, technology, and migration, Europe and India seem -- finally -- to be converging around a shared strategic logic. To unpack what's driving this convergence - and where its limits lie - Garima Mohan was the featured guest on a recent episode of Grand Tamasha, a weekly podcast on Indian politics and policy co-produced by HT and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Mohan is a senior fellow in the Indo-Pacific program at the German Marshall Fund based in Brussels. Her research focuses on Europe-India ties, EU foreign policy in Asia, and security in the Indo-Pacific. Mohan discussed the geopolitical drivers bringing the EU and India closer together, as well as Europe's evolving assessment of India's potential - and its constraints. The two also examined how Russia could complicate Indo-European security cooperation and why Europe urgently needs to invest in deeper India expertise. Mohan told host Milan Vaishnav that Europe's embrace of India has, in part, been encouraged by the United States. "As I interviewed policymakers across Europe, I asked about the US role and was surprised to hear that both Democrats and Republicans had pushed their European counterparts to take India more seriously and to view India as an important actor in the broader strategy of competing with China," she said. But disruption stemming from the second Trump administration has brought Europe and India even closer. "There is an undeniable feeling in many European capitals that Europe is increasingly alone and needs to look for new alignments and new partners," explained Mohan. "A refrain I heard quite often was, 'We can't afford to get India wrong - we can't afford to miss the India boat.'" Mohan argued that the recent EU-India free trade accord is not only about economics but also carries significant political weight "because it allows Europe and India to start talking about economic-security questions that aren't covered in the FTA - questions that require a baseline of trust in the economic relationship that didn't exist before". Mohan explained that years of stalled negotiations had generated frustration in both Brussels and New Delhi. In her view, the agreement helps establish the trust necessary for more advanced economic cooperation and deeper conversations on economic security. Still, Mohan pointed to potential stumbling blocks. The first is India's longstanding defence relationship with Russia. While many in Europe recognise that India's historic ties with Moscow will not disappear overnight, she argued that New Delhi must also be attentive to European sensitivities and red lines. "Russia could become a major problem for the India-Europe relationship if not managed carefully," she warned. The second challenge is Europe's limited knowledge base on India. "At a time when informed policymaking on India is most needed, Europe's expertise on India is extremely limited - and in certain areas, non-existent," Mohan added. While she praised Europe's longstanding investments in Indology - from Sanskrit to Indian history and culture - she argued that the study of modern India remains underdeveloped. "Unlike with China, where political foundations, corporations, and governments have invested in understanding and decoding Chinese politics and foreign policy, that kind of institutional capacity is absolutely missing when it comes to India," she noted....