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Manmohan-Merkel meet could narrow FTA differences

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's scheduled meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on December 11 could well see the narrowing of persisting differences in the negotiating positions of India and the European Union, as they get down to finalising a free trade agreement (FTA) that could open up export opportunities for India worth $ 9 billion.

The agreement was earlier expected to be ready for the EU-India Summit in Brussels on December 10, but that hope faded in the face of persisting differences on intellectual property rights, environment and “social issues” like labour, especially child labour. The current expectation is that an EU-India FTA could be ready for signatures mid-2011.

‘Political statement'

The Ambassador here for the Federal Republic of Germany Thomas Matussek indicated here on Monday there could be a “political statement” on the contours of a possible agreement, which he said would be “asymmetric”. “When negotiations get stuck, you have to kick them upstairs … both sides have to compromise, and within the EU, we have to work out compromises with 27 member countries,” he said, emphasising that the India-German summit meeting in Berlin, immediately after the EU-India Summit in Brussels, could take the process forward with the leaders taking some political decisions that would encourage progress on the negotiating tables.

Covering multiple issues

However, the talks would not be restricted to the trade agreement but would cover bilateral issues, global challenges, including terrorism and Afghanistan-Pakistan policies, climate change and a host of financial issues arising out of G-20 meetings. He added that the summit was taking place at the invitation of German Chancellor Merkel.

From Ambassador Matussek's observations it would seem that Germany sees Pakistan as “unstable” and as “not doing enough” to combat terrorism. He said Germany believed that Pakistan's legitimate and democratic civilian government ought to be strengthened and Pakistan's army, which no doubt was a separate power centre, could be more useful in stabilising the situation in Afghanistan “if it was under civilian command”.

His view was that by 2014, an Afghan army would be able to completely take over the role of the country's security, when NATO troops could withdraw from the region. “But the withdrawal would not be calendar driven, but results-driven,” he warned. He remarked that stability of the Afghanistan-Pakistan region was crucial for peace in that entire area, especially for India.

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