Bart 
De Wever

*** Deze toespraak is uitgesproken op 3 september 2026. Enkel het gesproken woord telt.***

 

“Trusted Partners in a Fragmented World:  

Belgium and India’s Economic Future, a case for Strategic Openness”

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

Namaste.

It is a great pleasure to be in India.

And it is an honour that you have come here to listen to me.

*

This morning I had the privilege of laying a wreath at the memorial at Raj Ghat.

For me, that carried a personal meaning as well.

Six years ago, in my own city of Antwerp, I laid flowers at the unveiling of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi.

It was a gift from the Indian community, and nowhere in Antwerp could have suited it better than the square before our new Palace of Justice.

Ever since, Gandhi has reminded those who pass by of his universal legacy of justice and the pursuit of truth.

Engraved before the statue is a single line.

It reads:

"The future depends on what you do today."

There is a great deal contained in that simple sentence.

At first reading, it sits oddly with a court of law.

There, the future is determined above all by what was done yesterday.

The past, inevitably, has its consequences.

But Gandhi reminds us, and rightly, that whatever our past, we remain responsible for what we do today.

That thought led me to put a question to you this afternoon:

What can we do, in today's fragmented world, to secure peace, progress and prosperity tomorrow?

To answer it, I would like to take you back in time.

*

Ladies and gentlemen,

In the summer of 326 before Christ, Alexander the Great halted on the banks of the Beas.

He was preparing to march further into India.

For eight years his soldiers had fought for him in a campaign of conquest across Asia.

Now they refused to go any further.

Only Coenus, one of Alexander's most trusted generals, dared to speak against his king, and to say aloud what the whole army was feeling.

He said:

"You have conquered not only your enemies, but your own soldiers. (…) You are preparing to go into another world. You are looking for an India that even the Indians do not know."

Coenus and his men understood well enough that the world was too small for their king.

Alexander withdrew, and much against his will.

But from then on, India was no longer a mythical place that Europeans had heard about in stories.

It had become a destination they could actually reach.

As a result, Alexander’s successors sent envoys to Indian rulers.

They came to listen rather than to take, and they were received in kind.

Later, in Roman times, that contact grew into an intensive trade.

From ports on the Red Sea they traded with India.

And the goods they carried home made this a land of legend: pepper, pearls, cinnamon, ginger and rubies.

India lay at the edge of their world, and it was fabulously rich.

In the late Middle Ages, European travellers went in search of that India.

Everyone knows Marco Polo.

But it was the Venetian Niccolò de' Conti who was among the first to venture into the interior as well.

His account described India as immensely diverse, hospitable and prosperous.

He was convinced of a sea route around Africa.

And he was proven right not much later.

From around 1500, a new maritime trade route connected India with Europe.

And at its European end lay Antwerp.  

The city on the river Scheldt became the cradle of modern European trade with India.

The city I was mayor of for twelve years.

Trade between India and Belgium thus has a history stretching back centuries.

*

Ladies and gentlemen,

People who trade with one another must learn to understand one another.

Because only then can they extend the trust that lasting trade requires.

So it did not take long before some of the Europeans travelling and trading in India began to notice something.

Take Filippo Sassetti, a Florentine who came to Kochi in 1583 to buy pepper.

Sassetti was curious about the Sanskrit he encountered there, and something struck him.

That ancient language had a great deal in common with his own.

Sassetti was no widely known scholar, and his impressions did not immediately produce great theories.

But a seed had been planted, and it took time to grow.

Almost 200 years later, a French linguist living in India wrote to the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres in Paris.

His name was Gaston-Laurent Coeurdoux.

Sanskrit, he wrote, resembles Greek.

It resembles Latin still more closely.

It even resembles German.

European scholars of language began to take up the same question, and to study it in earnest.

Out of that question grew, in time, the science of comparative linguistics.

Sanskrit turned out to be an indispensable key to understanding European languages.

And the enthusiasm that followed also brought with it an interest in the Dravidian languages and in Indian culture more broadly.1

*

The story of modern Indo-European relations, then, began with trade.

From trade came curiosity.

From curiosity came knowledge.

And out of that knowledge came something remarkable: the discovery of common ground where nobody had thought to look for it.

That is still how it works.

Whoever trades must listen.

Whoever listens comes to understand.

And whoever understands begins to trust.

That is why trade is never merely a dry economic exchange.

Trade is the most patient, and the most reliable, way in which peoples come to know one another.

*

Today, India and Europe are speaking the language of trade with renewed conviction.

The language of peace, of progress, and of prosperity.

In these times, that is anything but self-evident.

A growing part of the world no longer speaks that language, or has stopped speaking it altogether.

And history teaches us that a language which is no longer spoken will, without fail, disappear.

These are turbulent times.

Our world seems ever more divided into great blocs, raising barriers between one another.

For them, geopolitics is a zero-sum game.

Tariffs can be imposed from one day to the next, by anyone, on anyone, for reasons that have nothing to do with economics at all.

Trade and innovation thus become a matter of winners and losers.

Protectionism and market distortion are the instruments with which they pursue the greatest possible gain for themselves, and loss for the other.

Whoever looks at the world in that way disrespects the language of trade.  

And in the long term that means shooting yourself in the foot.

*

Ladies and gentlemen,

Belgium is a relatively small country.

It has eleven and a half million inhabitants.

Fewer than this magnificent metropolis of Delhi.

Belgium has almost no natural resources.

And yet it stands among the twenty-five largest economies on earth.

A small market, without natural wealth.

How can that be?

The answer is a simple one.

Through an open mind, and through free trade.

That is our national business model.

A model that has proved itself time and again, and to which we owe everything we have.

Every year, Belgium exports the equivalent of roughly four fifths of its gross domestic product.

So when the world closes, we do not lose market share.

We lose the reason we exist.

Which is precisely why we know, better than most, that the idea now taking hold in so many capitals is both wrong and destructive.

The idea that the world economy is a fixed pie, and that what one country gains another must lose.

As power politics, I grant you, that zero-sum thinking is not without reason.

Dependency can indeed be turned into leverage.

Europe has learnt this the hard way.

But Belgium and Europe will never make the mistake of walking into the same trap and adopting that zero-sum logic ourselves.

Because as a recipe for prosperity, zero-sum thinking and protectionism have failed whenever and wherever they have been tried.

They failed in the 1930s, when tariff walls turned a recession into a catastrophe.

They failed after the Second World War, when part of the world disappeared behind an Iron Curtain.

Free trade is not an iron law under which everyone automatically wins.

Of course it is not.

Free trade does not, by itself, divide the pie of our prosperity equally.

But it unquestionably makes that pie larger.

India is one of the finest examples of this.

According to the World Bank, extreme poverty in India has declined dramatically since the 1990s.

And rising prosperity has brought better social provisions with it.

Openness and cooperation are not, in themselves, a cure for everything.

But they create the conditions in which economic and social progress becomes possible.

The case for free trade, then, is not that it comes without costs.

It is that the losses of openness are manageable, while the losses of protectionism are not.

That is what we mean by strategic openness.

Open as our starting point, because protectionism is not the road to prosperity and progress.

Strategic, because openness that never counts its dependencies is simply carelessness.

And beneath both words lies a single condition: clear rules, which partners abide by.

*

Ladies and gentlemen,

For Europe, these past years have been a rude awakening.

For too long, Europe looked on as overcapacity was dumped below cost on its market, as its industrial base was undermined, and as dependencies were deliberately built up so that they could later be used as leverage.

The country that has profited most from that practice does not lie far from here.

India saw this a great deal earlier, and drew wise conclusions from it.

Europe is drawing them now. Late, but drawing them nonetheless.

Defending one’s own interests is essential to building the trust on which free trade depends.

The concept of free trade is only credible when a country is neither naïve nor willing to compromise its essential interests.

In a fragmented world, moreover, trust is a scarce commodity.

And trust rests on mutual respect.

India and Europe have their own histories, their own institutions, their own interests and their own strategic outlook.

Recognising that distinctiveness is the foundation on which any partnership must be built.

A mature partnership requires the confidence to speak frankly, to listen carefully, and to establish where our interests converge.

And they converge in a great many places.

India is a major democratic power, a leader in innovation, and a voice that cannot be missing when a free and prosperous world is shaped.

Europe brings the strength of its single market, its industrial and technological capacity, and its commitment to predictable, rules-based cooperation.

That is an extraordinary opportunity.

In a world where free trade is under pressure, we must resist the temptation to turn inward, to withdraw into ourselves.

What we need is trade that is more diversified, with partners who honour their commitments.

In a world where too many countries are being asked to choose a camp, India and Europe choose partnership.

Decisively.

*

In January of this year, after nearly twenty years of negotiation, India and the European Union concluded the largest trade agreement either of us has ever made.

Two billion consumers.

Roughly a quarter of the world's gross domestic product.

That agreement is an expression of strategic trust.

It creates opportunities for businesses, for workers, for researchers and for young people.

It makes our economies resilient against disruption and coercion.

And more broadly, it proves something many claimed was no longer possible: that large and diverse economies can work together constructively, even in a difficult geopolitical climate.

But that work is not finished. It is only beginning.

Lasting free trade rests on a single principle: it endures only where both sides are building something.

It falls to all of us, then, to turn this political agreement into economic value.

*

Ladies and gentlemen,

Anyone in search of economic value will find a strong partner in Belgium.

Belgium is open for business.

By now you will understand that for us this is not merely a motto. It is an article of faith.

Within Europe, Belgium leads through its advanced industry, its scientific excellence, and its role as a logistical hub.

Let me highlight a number of sectors.

First, food.

Internationally, Belgium tends to be reduced to the country of chocolate, beer and Belgian fries.

(You call them finger chips or French fries, but they should of course be called Belgian fries.)

There is, of course, something to that.

Earlier today, I presented Prime Minister Modi with a chocolate, what else, sculpture of India Gate.

Belgian food culture might fairly be summed up as the good life.

We are among the very top in the world for Michelin star restaurants per head of population, far ahead of countries many times our size.  

I shall refrain from naming France.

The reason for that does not lie in the kitchen alone.

It begins with what grows in our fields.

Behind every world-class plate stands a farmer who supplies the ingredients.

Celebrated chefs receive the stars, but they share them, without question, with the grower, the stockman and the market gardener standing behind them.

Our agriculture is one of the most valuable pillars of our industrial strength and of our rich culture.

We are proud, then, of our food products.

But that is only part of the story.

For our food industry is among the most technologically advanced in Europe.

Freezing, potato processing, refrigeration technology, packaging lines, laboratories.

We do not merely grow the product. We build the research facilities, the processing machinery and the supply systems that go with it.

Second, critical minerals, chemistry and industry.

You will undoubtedly know that Antwerp is home to the largest integrated petrochemical cluster in Europe.

But Antwerp is also home to one of the richest mines on the continent.

Not an ordinary mine. A scrapyard.

Take gold.

A tonne of natural gold ore contains, on average, no more than five grams of gold.

A tonne of electronic scrap, old smartphones and computers, yields around three hundred.

Umicore is only one example among many large Belgian companies, such as Silox and Sibelco, that are world players not only in manufacturing but in recovery and reuse.

In a world where critical minerals are becoming an instrument of geopolitical pressure, that knowledge is indispensable to anyone who wants to be resilient.

Belgium was one of the earliest industrialised countries.

That is no cause to rest on our laurels, because an industry has to be reinvented by every generation.

Ours included.

But it does give us a rich industrial tradition and deep expertise.

For a fast-growing economy such as India's, that offers excellent quick wins.

Take Silox, which within five years, together with an Indian partner, will account for ten per cent of India's lithium-ion battery recycling capacity.

That is what strong partnership looks like.

Third, medicine.

India is the pharmacy of the world.

The Romans already knew as much.

Since then, India has grown into the largest producer of generic medicines and is bursting with talent.

Its health sector, moreover, is advancing rapidly.

But there is enormous untapped potential.

There is also mounting pressure from China, something Europe is contending with as well.

That is precisely why Belgium is an ideal partner.

We have one of the densest life-science research clusters in Europe.

Our country is a leader R&D investments and in clinical trials.

Through more intensive cooperation in research, development and production, we can strengthen both our pharmaceutical sectors.

And in doing so, counter our growing dependence on China.

Fourth, energy.

Belgium is among the world leaders in building offshore wind, in green hydrogen technology, and in the grid and marine infrastructure that any energy transition depends on.

Like India, we want to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

That calls for investments and additional energy capacity.

And Belgium is delivering on both.

In India, Belgian companies can offer expertise in onshore and offshore wind, in green hydrogen, and in grid infrastructure.

John Cockerill and Greenko have joined forces to build a green hydrogen and green ammonia ecosystem here in India, including a major electrolyser factory.

India also has considerable potential for offshore wind.

But so far it remains a matter of plans.

Belgium can maybe help to turn them into reality.

In the North Sea, Belgium has built one of the most densely developed offshore zones in the world, in shallow, heavily trafficked and heavily regulated waters.

That is precisely the difficult case. And it is the case we know.

Fifth, technology and innovation.

In Assam and Gujarat, India is building facilities to bring more of the semiconductor value chain into its own hands..

In Leuven stands one of the most advanced chip research institutes in the world: imec.

Imec develops the chips of the next generation, and it does so with the world's major semiconductor companies working side by side, competitors included.

That is only one example of the synergies possible between Belgium's high-technology economy and the extraordinary pace of India's advance.

Every year, one and a half million new engineers graduate in India.

Artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and data processing open up countless new fields of research.

Belgium intends to be a pronounced partner in all of them.

*

Ladies and gentlemen,

Food. Critical minerals, chemicals and industry. Medicine. Energy. Technology and innovation.

These strategic sectors make our economies more resilient, accelerate the sustainable transition, and create real value.

There are, of course, other strategic sectors, not least defence.  

But if that is your particular interest, you have just heard all about it at the previous event, hosted by our Minister of Defence and the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers.

So let me turn to one final, major asset that Belgium has to offer.

Belgium is Europe’s logistical and political gateway.

The port of Antwerp-Bruges is the second port of Europe, and the shortest distance there is between a ship's hold and the European continental market.

Within five hundred kilometres of Antwerp live one hundred and fifty million of the most affluent consumers on earth.

The European Union has its headquarters in Brussels.

Whoever does business or invests in Belgium is therefore close not only to the market, but to those who write the rules for it.

Doing business or investing in Belgium offers enormous opportunity.

Just as working with Belgian companies can bring benefits to both sides.

*

Ladies and gentlemen,

We began with a question.  

What can we do, today, to secure peace, progress and prosperity tomorrow?

I think we have the answer in this room.

*

Where trade is free and fair, tomorrow brings peace.

Because two peoples who trade with one another must first learn to listen to one another and understand each other.

In the world we now live in, that is a tremendous asset.

Where trade is free and fair, tomorrow brings progress.

Because neither of us can build alone what we can build together.

Your scale, talent and ambition.

Our specialisation, experience and dedication.

And where trade is free and fair, tomorrow brings prosperity.

Because prosperity was never a fixed pie to be divided.

It is something two countries grow together, and go on growing, for as long as both of them keep working at it.

*

You will have noticed there are two clear conditions.

Trade must be free. And fair.

Neither of those words looks after itself.

That is what we mean by strategic openness.

And it is precisely there that India and Belgium can strengthen one another.

*

Ladies and gentlemen,

That story will not be written by governments.

It never has been.

It is written today by the people in this room. By your talent and ours. By your companies and ours.

Governments can open the door.

You are the ones who walk through it.

*

"The future depends on what you do today."

The future doesn’t depend on what we promise.

It doesn’t depend on what India and the European Union agreed upon in January.

It depends on what we do today.

That is the demanding part of that sentence.  

It is also the hopeful part.

Because it means the future is not something that happens to us.

It is something we make.  

Here. Now. Together.

"The future depends on what you do today."

India and Belgium have a history that is centuries old.

I have come to Delhi because I believe the best is still ahead.

Belgium is open for business.

And we are most certainly open for business with India.

Thank you.