The Indian External Affairs Minister, Salman Khurshid will visit Germany and Belgium from 28-31 January. During this four-day visit, he will meet German Foreign Minister Dr. Guido Westerwelle, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Didier Reynders, and the European Union’s (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Vice President of the European Commission, Baroness Catherine Ashton.
Although the discussions will focus on enhancing ways to tackle emerging regional and international issues of mutual interest, Khurshid is expected to focus on the India-EU Free Trade Agreement, officially dubbed as the Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA).
The BTIA seeks to reduce tariffs on goods sharply, and liberalise services and investment provisions. The talks for the agreement, which were launched in 2007, were to conclude in 2011. Although both Germany and Belgium strongly support the early conclusion of the India-EU Free Trade Agreement, it has been delayed owing to differences between the two sides. This pact is significant, given the robust India-EU bilateral trade, which stood at $91.3 billion in 2010-11; the formalization of this pact will boost the trade to cross the $200 billion mark by 2015.
With India-Germany bilateral trade pegged at 18.3 billion Euros in 2011, Berlin is New Delhi’s largest trading partner within the EU. The relations between the two nations intensified after the unification of Germany in 1990, and are based on common values of democracy and the rule of law. Both sides cooperate in several international forums such as the UN, G-4, and G-20. Since 2001, India and Germany have pursued a strategic partnership with each other.
Belgium is India’s second-largest trading partner in the EU, with bilateral trade pegged at 13.3 billion Euros in 2011. The two sides actively cooperate in the areas like science and technology, and business, among others.