Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Will Brexit cause any impact on India? Indian media have been asking this question a lot lately. Yet given the fact that New Delhi is not playing a crucial role in global trade or the international geopolitical system, the influence of Britain leaving the European Union (EU) will prove to be very limited.

In economy and trade, there will be impacts, though not significant ones. The EU is one of India's most important export markets, thus New Delhi has been taking its trade ties with Brussels seriously. Due to the UK's history of colonialism in India, London still sees itself as India's metropole. Britain was a major nation within the EU that rooted for developing closer ties with India. Yet after the UK divorces the EU, the UK's role in promoting India-EU relations will no longer exist.

Nevertheless, because of India's small trade volume and the country's established communication channels and trade rules between European nations and New Delhi, no strong influence will be created by Brexit on India.

India is among the countries that have huge migration flows to Britain. Previously, once Indians emigrated to the UK and became British nationals, it would be easy for them to further migrate to other European countries because the UK's EU membership gives its citizens the right of free movement within the bloc.

However, after Brexit, the EU will be bound to rearrange this policy with the UK, which means Britain will no longer be a doorway for immigrants to Europe, and its attraction for large sources of immigration such as India will be reduced.

One thing is positive for India though. The UK has always been interested in defense cooperation with New Delhi which is currently the world's largest importer of arms and ammunition. London will put more emphasis on promoting its arms trade with New Delhi after leaving the EU.

Brexit will have little geopolitical impact on India. Cooperation between the EU and India is mainly focused on economy and trade. Politically, Europe will always stand beside the US. Brexit will undoubtedly make the EU weaker, but there is little possibility that the bloc will boost its influence through enhancing collaboration with rising powers.

Ever since the EU was formed, the member countries have tried to seek a common foreign policy, yet they have never worked one out. So far, the union has not yet reached a consensus over joint diplomacy. Every single one of them is still practicing their own policies toward other nations.

Therefore, there will be no new common foreign policy in the future, which means no new India policy either. In the post-Brexit era, the smaller EU will still maintain its status as a part of the Western system and London will still be an ally of the US. The EU has never tried to woo India to contain the rise of Beijing like the US, and it is hardly likely to.

It is however unknown whether the EU will collapse after Brexit. If other nations start to believe that staying in the union will not bring them any benefit, similar referendum could emerge one after another. After several more such votes, the EU might be disintegrated once and for all. In that case, the whole world would be shaken.

But so far, the political and economic chaos in the UK is hardly an example others are likely to follow. If the UK is the only one breaking up with the EU, its geopolitical impact on India will remain very small.

The author is director of the Center for Asia-Pacific Studies, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn Follow us on Twitter @GTopinion