12/07/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament's Committee on External Trade has approved a report by British Liberal Democrat Saj Karim on the future of EU/India trade relations. In a press release, the rapporteur notes that “whilst the rest of the world has been obsessed with China's emergence”, the committee has been reflecting on the challenges raised by relations with a country like India. In his view, “as our ambitions for the Doha Round are lowered, Europe needs to look to bilateral deals to supplement a WTO settlement” and the “EU should offer India a free trade agreement”. Mr Karim also commented that the impact of India's growth on global energy demand “raises serious concerns for energy security” and India and the European Union should therefore define together the “global energy architecture”, mainly based on the development of sustainable energy sources. At political level, the rapporteur notes that, after the bloody terrorist attacks on Tuesday in India (see related article), the EU and India must continue to cooperate in combating terrorism also.