India, EU push for free trade deal
Agreements on scientific, economic, environmental and security cooperation signed
New Delhi: India and the 27-nation European Union yesterday decided to wrap up a free trade area agreement within a year as the two sides inked a civil nuclear pact and agreed to expand cooperation on issues ranging from terrorism and climate change to the reform of global financial bodies.
Concerned over the volatile situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan, widely seen as a haven for Al Qaida and Taliban extremists, the two sides agreed to accelerate negotiations between Europol, the EU's nodal criminal intelligence agency, and the Indian agencies to combat terrorism.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held the 10th summit talks on Friday with the EU leaders, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU, and European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso.
They discussed a broad spectrum of bilateral and global issues including the global financial crisis, energy security, climate change, trade and terrorism.
Formal participation
An agreement on civil nuclear energy, marking India's formal participation in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project, was signed by Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar and EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner on behalf of the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). The pact aims at intensifying cooperation to develop scientific understanding and technological capability underlying the fusion system in the long term.
The ITER project, which involves the US, EU, Russia, China, Japan, South Korea and India, on fusion energy is said to be the costliest experiment of its kind pegged at 10 billion euros (Dh54.6 billion) with the first fusion reactor expected to be operational in Cadarche, France by 2016.
The 10th summit put negotiations over a free trade area agreement on a fast-track with both sides hopeful of wrapping it up by 2010. "We agreed to expedite the conclusion of a balanced and mutually beneficial broad-based agreement on trade and investment that will lead to increased economic opportunities and creation of jobs as well as wealth," Manmohan Singh said at a joint press conference.
The two sides launched negotiations in 2007 for a free trade agreement (FTA), but the negotiations are dragging due to differences over intellectual property rights and EU's negotiating stance to link trade with climate and other extraneous issues like child labour. The pact has the potential to double bilateral trade from over $100 billion (Dh367 billion) to $200 billion by 2013.
The sharp spike in terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan also figured prominently in the discussions. The two sides have agreed to advance negotiations between Europol and the Delhi, said Reinfeldt.
