The Hindu Business Line : EU-India summit set to improve bilateral ties

THE European Union expects its economic relations with India to reach at par with its other major strategic partners such as US, Japan and China, after the next EU-India summit scheduled for September, in New Delhi.

According to a senior EU official, a number of new initiatives in political, economic and cultural areas would be covered in the meeting which is expected to finalise an action plan based on the commitments made by both parties in the last summit.

"We are in the process of translating the political commitments made at the last year's summit in Hague into an action plan for approval at the September meeting," the official said.

"Our idea is to bring relations with India to at least the level we are having with our other strategic partners or hopefully beyond that" the official said. The official was speaking to a group of visiting journalists from India last week.

On the economic side, the areas to be covered include issues relating to foreign investments, co-operation in the field of bio-technology, telecommunications and energy. On the political front, issues include reforms at United Nations, human rights, efforts to counter terrorism and co-operation in peace keeping.

The official said India had achieved rapid economic growth in the recent past. EU has been a major trade and investment partner of India and is still the largest importer of goods and services from India.

He said EU's investments in India have been growing. European companies have been making large investments ever since India opened its economy in 1992. Indian companies have made substantial investments in Europe in the recent past.

Responding to questions on bilateral issues, the official said though India had reduced tariff substantially, they are still higher on many items as compared to that of European countries.

On the EU stand on WTO negotiations, he said EU sees India as its natural ally at WTO.

But he said EU expects better market access in India for textiles.

Textile manufacturers in Portugal, France and Italy have been facing competition from Indian and Chinese exports.

Referring to issues relating to agriculture, he said "if we have to make big concessions in agriculture (though it is difficult for us), it is natural that we also expect similar actions from developing countries too."

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