- Sunil Bharti Mittal said Donald Trump's policies have shaken Europe out of a long slumber
- Mittal said Europe must unify its voice on defence, security, and intelligence in the next decade
- Mittal praised India's calm approach amid US tariff impositions and geopolitical noise
Bharti Enterprises Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal has described the tectonic events that are taking place due to US President Donald Trump's policies as something that "shook Europe" out of a slumber, or a long vacation.
In a conversation with NDTV Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal in Davos, Mittal said the old world order has changed.
"What is important is for the world to know the old world order has certainly shifted. Now, where will it land up? What new institutions will come through it? But something has to give now. Europe will have to come together as a voice. No more fragmented Europe and together through Brussels," Mittal said.
"It doesn't work. Have one voice. You can't have a situation where two leading heads of state have a strong reaction and two say, no, we must compromise. It doesn't work. Europe in the next 10 years would have made their own arrangements on defence, on security, on intelligence sharing, on satellites, GPS, but it will take 10 years.
"I say Europe has been on a vacation and when you come back from a vacation, you can either be very charged up to do things or you could be in a lazy mode, not doing much. What Trump has done is I think shake them up very hard. I think Europe is acting now," the pioneering businessman in India's telecom sector told NDTV.
He said there is a method in the madness of Trump. And what is that?
"Ask for the Moon, settle for the stars," Mittal added.
To a question about how India should deal with Trump, Mittal said a lot of people criticise India saying it could have done this, or it could have done that.
"I'm in the world of business, but I'm also a student of geopolitics. I personally feel India has done well by keeping quiet, not reacting to the noise. Our leadership has had a lot of calm approach towards the whole issue," he said, referring to the steep tariffs the US has imposed on India.
He said officials of both sides are engaging closely and things are moving with such speed that a trade deal could happen soon.
"You can see that underlying things are moving now. India is focused on the EU deal. Hopefully, next week, the EU deal should get inked," he said.
After raising dust in Davos, the US President headed on Thursday. Before leaving, he unveiled his new Board of Peace and once again cast himself as a global peacemaker, despite widespread scepticism over a plan that aims to rewrite the world order.
Trump officials also unveiled ambitious plans for a "New Gaza" during the ceremony at the World Economic Forum, with the US leader describing the devastated Palestinian territory as "great real estate".
