EU-India Summit to set path for growing strategic partnership
29 Nov '07
4 min read
Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, adds: “India has enormous potential as a global player as well as an important partner in the region. Recognising India´s economic transition, we can now focus our development cooperation programmes providing support for its efforts to attain the Millennium Development Goals. For this two-fold approach we have earmarked €470 million for new cooperation projects from 2007 to 2013.”
Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said: “The EU and India have made good progress so far in our FTA negotiations. It is still early days though, and we need to use the momentum we have to put initial offers on the table that show a high level of ambition, and allow us to move forward credibly and constructively."
India-EU bilateral relations have progressed from trade in goods mostly in traditional sectors, and development and economic cooperation until the 1990s, into a “Strategic Partnership'. Today, in addition to core trade, investment and cooperation issues, the relationship includes policy dialogues on a constantly increasing number of sectors such as energy and environment, climate change, and culture, exchanges at civil society level and between parliamentarians.
The EU continues to be India's main trading partner accounting for one-fifth of her total trade as well as the biggest source of actual foreign direct investment into India. Bilateral trade in goods touched 46 billion euros in 2006. The EU is also one of India's leading partners in development and economic cooperation.
The two countries cooperate regularly at the multilateral level whether at the UN or the WTO. The EU supports the efforts towards regional cooperation in South Asia under the aegis of SAARC. India has also recently joined the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) which provides a new forum for the two sides to work together on issues of mutual interest and concern.
Cooperation in the field of Science and Technology is growing rapidly. Currently new joint cooperation initiatives are being launched in the field of environment, energy, materials, nanotechnology, agriculture and biotechnology.
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