India feels much more at ease with Europe's 'soft power,' as it struggles to contain its strategic rivalry with China and manage its discomfort with certain actions undertaken by the United States, "which thinks too much as a superpower," said Tharoor, who is a member of the Congress Party from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala state.
However, if Europe wants to strengthen its relationship with India, it must suppress its tendency to lecture others on their domestic affairs, a behavioural trait that Delhi does not always appreciate.
"If we treat each other with the respect that is necessary for sovereign countries, we will have no problem developing a real strategic partnership," Tharoor said, noting that a Free Trade Agreement between the EU and India, which is expected to be signed before the end of the year, would appear to represent an easy starting point.
Hailing the impending conclusion of the FTA, Tharoor said he believed it was the right time for Europe to enter the Indian market. "It is a very important market due to its size but also because its consumption capacity is growing annually. So for Europe this is important, and for us I believe that the diversification of our sources of imports is very useful," he said, stressing nonetheless that India's major trading partners remained the United States and China.
Asked whether India would commit to improving labour standards if urged to do so by the European Parliament, which will needs to approve any ratification of an FTA, Tharoor warned that the imposition of such conditions may well cause the the agreement to fail.
"Europe has to understand that India is a country that likes to solve its own problems. Because of our colonial past, we don't like it when someone from outside India comes to gives us lessons," he said, stressing that child labour, for example, is illegal in the country and mostly a result of tough economic realities.
Indeed, despite rapid development with yearly growth rates of 8-9%, more than 37% of India's 1.2 billion population still lives below the poverty line. But it is this sustained growth rate that is managing to lift 1% of Indians out of poverty every year, said the Indian politician, who stressed that GDP per capita had also grown year on year.
"We are lifting people out of poverty but maybe too slowly. Although it is true that rich people are growing richer, I would not say that the poor are becoming poorer," said Tharoor.
According to Tharoor, India can play a greater role on the international stage, especially when it comes to dealing with its immediate neighbourhood — citing Pakistan and Afghanistan among other countries. But it can also help solve other matters of global commons, like cyber crime or global warming, he explained.
"I believe that India has the capacity and the will to act, which I believe is important for Europe," Tharoor said.
