Brussels, 13/10/2006 (Agence Europe) - A year after the signing of the mammoth Joint Action Plan establishing areas of EU-Indian cooperation (see EUROPE 9022), the European Union and India have hailed progress and reaffirmed their pledge to continue down the path set out in the 2004 EU-India Strategic Partnership (see EUROPE 8823). Various dialogue mechanisms, high level groups and panels have been set up to study security, immigration, visa policy, pharmaceuticals, biotech, information and communication technology, agriculture, energy and trade, for example, with the aim of boosting existing links. The seventh EU-India Summit was held in Helsinki, Finland, on 13 October, with the aim of officialising bilateral trade relations between the EU and India. Finnish prime minister Matti Vanhanen said after the Summit that they had agreed to launch negotiations over a broad agreement on bilateral trade and investment. The Summit was attended by Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh, EU High Representative for CFSP, Javier Solana, the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, and Indian trade minister Kamal Nath.
On the political front, the leaders welcomed the fact the EU will be attending the upcoming South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) meeting in New Delhi in April 2007 as an observer and also welcomed India's membership of the ASEM mechanism (see EUROPE 9262). They were also pleased about the intensification of cultural and academic exchanges (like Erasmus Mundus) and exchanges among parliamentarians and civil society. On a broader front, both sides will continue to work together on multilateral issues, reforming the UN, anti-terrorism and promoting peace and security. In the final declaration, the EU and India pledge to work together to reinforce the United Nations' new Human Rights Council and peace consolidation committee and recognise the need to ensure the efficient development of the United Nations' environmental activity. Security of energy supply will continue to form an important element of EU-India dialogue, along with practical cooperation between both partners. Both sides agree that urgent action is needed from all countries in the world to tackle climate change.
In terms of global issues, both the EU and India urge North Korea to return to negotiations immediately and without preconditions. They call for a fair and lasting peace in the Middle East and also looked at the situation in Burma/Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka. United in their rejection of terrorism, the EU and India condemned all forms of terrorism irrespective of how, where or why such acts are perpetrated.
On the business front, the Commission is preparing a Financial Framework (budget) for 2007-2013 to fund cooperation in India, and hopes to engage India in macroeconomic dialogue. Exchanges of information on company law, accounting rules and the supervision of financial institutions will continue, along with talks on civil aviation. EU and Indian leaders reaffirmed their support for the current negotiations on an EU-India maritime transport agreement.
India and the EU have been in contact throughout the Doha trade round and now want to make progress in negotiating a new bilateral trade and investment agreement (see EUROPE 9285). In the final declaration, the EU and India were at pains to stress that the new trade and investment agreement must build on WTO Rules. Jose Manuel Barroso said that both the EU and India had been very disappointed at the breakdown in the WTO talks and hoped the talks would start up again, but it was now of 'mutual interest' for the EU and India to do something together. (ab)