Indo-European summit, the first to be held in India after the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, will be led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from the India side and from the EU side by Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council and Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission.
“The Summit will provide an opportunity to both sides to review the entire spectrum of the strategic relationship between India and the European Union and to discuss bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of mutual concern,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
The two sides are expected to discuss an entire gamut of bilateral issues, including accelerating trade ties in times of economic downturn, global financial crisis, climate change, counter-terrorism, the situation in the Middle East and the Iranian oil issue. Moreover, discussions will also be held on the Free Trade Agreement being negotiated between the two sides from 2007. The EU’s envoy to India has said that while there won’t be any signing of the trade deal, the summit will provide an opportunity for crucial trade-offs that could set the stage for wrapping up negotiations by the middle of the year.
The EU is India’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade estimated to be over $75 billion. The EU has lobbied hard for steep reduction in tariffs for export of its automobiles, wines and spirits to India. However, the Indian automobile industry is fiercely opposed to any kind of duty cuts and argued that it will hurt domestic manufacturers.