Europe–India’s “Mother of All Deals”: The Indo-German Bridges Built by Dr Arun Sarabhai

As Europe and India move closer to concluding what some policymakers have begun calling the “mother of all deals”, most attention has focused on negotiations: the language of tariffs, regulatory alignment, and strategic partnerships. But large international agreements rarely begin at negotiating tables. Long before governments formalize cooperation, quieter forms of connection tend to emerge between professionals, industries, and institutions working across borders.

Germany and India already share a dense network of such relationships. Over decades, the two countries have collaborated in scientific research, technical education, development programmes, and industrial partnerships. As global supply chains shift in response to geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty, Europe is increasingly turning toward democratic partners like India as anchors for new economic arrangements.

Yet the infrastructure of cooperation is not built solely through treaties or summit diplomacy. It often grows through long-standing professional networks that operate across countries and sectors, linking people who move between institutions, markets, and cultures.

One example of this kind of bridge-building can be found in the work of Dr Arun Sarabhai, a physician-turned-entrepreneur whose professional life has unfolded across both Germany and India.

A second-generation member of the Indian diaspora in Germany, Dr Arun Sarabhai has spent much of his career developing cross-border networks that connect training systems, regulated industries, and emerging markets in both countries.

Despite achieving considerable success as a self-made entrepreneur, Dr Arun Sarabhai, known to many colleagues simply as Bobby, his birth-record name, is often described as maintaining an understated approach to his work. Those who have collaborated with him frequently note a style that remains deliberately simple, practical, and grounded.

Across the initiatives associated with his projects, participants are often referred to simply as co- workers within the ASV Team, a choice that reflects a collaborative structure rather than the formal hierarchy typical of many corporate organisations.

Through training programmes and workforce mobility initiatives developed alongside Dr Arati Sarabhai, these networks have helped create pathways for skilled professionals, particularly within healthcare and technical sectors, to connect with opportunities in Germany. Over time, the initiatives are said to have influenced the livelihoods of more than a thousand individuals and their families.

Dr. Arun Sarabhai’s own story reflects the longer arc of Indo-German exchange. His parents were part of an early generation of rare Indian physicians who established their careers in Germany during the decades following the Second World War. His father, Dr Pramode Verma, an anaesthesiologist, settled there in the late 1950s.

Germany ultimately became the family’s permanent home, and Dr Arun Sarabhai spent his early childhood there, including his kindergarten years. The experience of growing up between cultures would later shape the cross-border orientation of his professional work.

Today, his network extends across Germany, India, the United Arab Emirates, and Nepal, touching sectors that range from workforce mobility and training to industrial supply chains and pharmaceutical sourcing.

One of the initiatives linked to these networks, WinePort, connects German wineries, including state-owned producers, with India’s expanding hospitality sector. While niche in scope, the project reflects a broader pattern in which specialised industries seek new avenues of exchange between European producers and rapidly growing Asian markets.

Dr Arun Sarabhai has also participated in dialogue initiatives connected with the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) in India, where conversations around skills development, workforce training, and industrial cooperation continue to evolve.

If the EU–India relationship ultimately matures into the sweeping partnership that negotiators envision, its durability will likely depend on more than diplomatic agreements alone. It will also rest on the quieter networks of professionals, educators, entrepreneurs, and institutions that have been building connections between the two economies for decades.

Large deals may define the framework of cooperation. But the day-to-day architecture of partnership is often constructed far from the negotiating room through the steady work of those who operate between systems, linking them together.