The global power shift and growing interpolarity of today's world are driven by a resurgent Asia, making engagement with these emerging actors imperative for the European Union (EU). As an increasingly central instrument for the EU claiming a global role, the European Union promotes ?strategic partnerships? with the rising powers of India and China. Yet, EU foreign policy debates often disregard concurrent discourses in India, China and other Asian countries and the perceptions of their elites on the EU as a global actor. Do these countries perceive the EU as a strategic partner?

This seminar aims to provide a perspective ?from the outside in?: How do the EU?s strategic partner countries India and China perceive the European Union? What factors are influencing the perceptions of foreign policy elites in these countries? The seminar will discuss EU strategic partnerships, policy areas of cooperation and competition between the EU and its strategic partners and the debates in Chinese and Indian foreign policy circles on the EU as a global actor. Aim of the seminar is to provide the participants with a complementary perspective on current EU foreign policy debates to facilitate a multiperspective discussion on the future of European foreign and security policy.