The Hindu : National : India to take forward strategic partnership with E.U.

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Nov 05, 2004

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India to take forward strategic partnership with E.U.

By Amit Baruah

NEW DELHI, NOV. 4. India views the European Union as one of the "poles" in a multi-polar world and is poised to take its strategic partnership forward with it at the November 8 annual summit between the two entities at The Hague in the Netherlands. It will be New Delhi's first summit with an enlarged European Union.

An "action plan" to enhance India-E.U. cooperation in the economic, political and cultural fields will be spelt out in the months after the fifth summit to be attended by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. It will then be endorsed at the sixth summit next year.

As part of the "strategic partnership", India has suggested a dialogue on "Islam in a plural, democratic and open society." Agreeing with an E.U. paper on the contours of the strategic partnership, India, too, is keen on upgrading the dialogue on anti-terrorism to security cooperation.

Given the fact that India has one of the largest populations of Muslims in the world and that the E.U. has a population of 15 million Muslims, it would be useful for the two sides to engage in a discussion in the context of open, pluralistic societies.

India has also agreed to an E.U. suggestion to set up an "energy panel" to guide joint working groups dealing with fossil fuels, renewable energy and nuclear energy. The "common points" of agreement have been culled by India and the E.U. flowing from the Union's paper on strategic partnership. India has come out with a detailed response to it.

Nuclear issues

Indian officials see considerable potential for dialogue on nuclear issues, especially nuclear energy.

The E.U., in its paper, suggested increased cooperation on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, where the two sides have common positions.

"This could include expert meetings to reinforce the consistency and effectiveness of export control measures, in particular for dual use goods. Political dialogue on non-proliferation should also be reinforced," it suggested.

South Block officials said that while there were differences of opinion between India and the E.U. on some issues, the idea was for the two sides to engage in a dialogue and arrive at a common understanding.

Galileo project

For instance, an agreement on the Galileo satellite navigation project has been held up because India wants to be at the core of the programme, but the E.U. is offering India what it has offered to other "outsiders".

But the officials pointed out that discussions on the project, which have been taking place for more than one year, will continue notwithstanding the differences in perception.

On the economic side, India was in agreement with the E.U. to discuss both opportunities and challenges arising from the recent expansion of the Union. On business process outsourcing, India has suggested a structured dialogue and joint study to identify specific areas available for outsourcing to India on the basis of mutual benefits and interest.

India has had a summit-level interaction with the European Union since the year 2000.

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