PARIS — "Do not forget India." That warning made sense 10 or 15 years ago; not any longer. India is now impossible to ignore, much less forget, owing not only to its rapid economic growth but also to the country's increasing geopolitical stature.

Europeans often speak of an emerging "Group of Three," implying an international system dominated by the United States, China and the European Union. But this ambition looks more presumptuous and unrealistic every day, particularly given the choices that Europe just made in naming its new "president" — Belgium's Prime Minister Herman van Rompuy — and "foreign minister" — the never-been-elected-to- anything Lady Catherine Ashton from Britain.

How can Europe pretend to stand for an ambitious message when it picks such low-profile — indeed, practically anonymous — messengers to deliver it?