Diamonds Aren’t Forever: Why Belgium Has Returned to India After 20 Years

Bart De Wever’s visit is being presented as a celebration of India-Belgium ties. Beneath the ceremony lies an urgent reinvention. Antwerp and Surat built one of globalisation’s most successful partnerships around natural diamonds. Now sanctions, synthetics and Dubai have weakened both ends of that trade. Belgium has arrived with seven expected defence contracts, a new India-EU trade deal and a search for everything that might come after the sparkle.