Brussels, 04/07/2005 (Agence Europe) - “It is natural for the EU and India to think of each other as strategic partners”, Shyam Saran, Indian Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, said last week. He hoped that the action plan, to be adopted during the EU/India summit in New Delhi on 7 September, will allow the areas of strategic partnership cooperation signed in November 2004 (EUROPE 8823) to be consolidated. During a conference at the European Policy Centre (EPC) on the trading possibilities between the EU and India, which is an important part of the action plan, Mr Saran placed great emphasis on the needs of India when it comes to foreign direct investment (FDI). He thus recalled that a more liberal framework had been set up to stimulate investment, especially for infrastructure (roads, housing, etc.). Prime Minister Manmohan Singh thus triggered several reforms aimed at eliminating obstacles and encouraging foreign companies to develop their activities in India. Often of a technical nature, the reforms have, for example, amended the thresholds of participation by foreign companies in telecommunications, as well as the legislation that made it compulsory for foreign companies present in a joint venture in India to obtain the approval of the government for the development of new activities. Stressing a recent characteristic of the Indian economy, Mr Saran remarked that India was itself a foreign investor in many European countries (mainly the United Kingdom but also France, Germany or Italy) in sectors such as information technology or food. One of the advantages of the country is its young, educated population, although the movement of those with a professional diploma remains a problem, Mr Saran said.
Answering questions on the high number of priorities set out in the Strategic Partnership, Mr Saran said it was each time a question of real areas where it is possible to “work together”. He stressed the importance of having winning projects for both parties. In the case of energy, therefore, he stresses the need to provide countries like India with means to adopt clean development technologies, which will also make it possible to meet the high cost of oil. Some of these technologies should come into the public sphere in developing countries, he suggested, failing which it would be necessary to foresee “additional funding” possibilities. The dialogue between the EU and India on energy will continue at the level of a panel devoted to energy, established after the fifth summit in The Hague, and which will seek to identify the specific programmes that promote sustainable fossil energy sources, either renewable or nuclear. During his inaugural meeting, last Wednesday, attended by Mr Saran and the Director General on Energy and Transport, the panel set up three working groups on: (a) coal and the conversion of coal-related technologies; (b) energy efficiency and renewable energies; and (c) energy merger, including participation by India in the ITER project.
In terms of political priorities, Mr Saran stressed the multilateralist vision of international relations that the EU and India share and hoped that UN reform, where India calls for a permanent seat at the Security Council, will reflect the realities of the 21st century. Counter-terrorism cooperation remains a point on which “we did not go as far as we hoped”, Mr Saran deplored.