India’s third force

Since independence in 1947, India has always managed to form its own connections with the world, keeping its distance from the big global blocs without offending either side enough to trigger wars or sanctions.

Now India is linking up with the non-EU countries of Europe, which is again unsurprising. This article is more interesting for what it says about Europe:

= = = = = START QUOTE:

India will lift most tariffs on several sectors with Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein in a free trade agreement.

The trade deal with European Free Trade Association nations, not part of the EU, was inked ahead of the country’s general elections due in the next few months that may give Prime Minister Narendra Modi a third-straight term in office.

The Indian government has finalized a series of major trade agreements over the past few years, and a deal with the UK is in the pipeline.

= = = = = END QUOTE.

We heard endlessly about Britain’s exit from EU, but the EFTA doesn’t hit the headlines. Switzerland and Norway are major forces in their own ways, banking and petroleum. Closer ties with India will reinforce the non-EU parts of Europe and decrease the power of EU.