Fontells meets President, Chidambaram, Sonia

New Delhi, Oct 5 (UNI) President of the European Parliament Joseph Borell Fontells, who is on an official visit to the country, today had a series of meetings with high dignitaries of the Indian government to discuss the progress of the Startegic Partnership between the two entities.

Mr Fontells met President A P J Kalam, Vice- President Bhairon Singh Shekhwat, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Industry and Commerce Minister Kamal Nath.

He also met Congress President Sonia Gandhi and European Union observers say these moves are indicative of the growing relations between the two partners.

The other issue which came up for discussions was the forthcoming 7th India- EU Summit to be held in Helsinki, Finland.

EU sources say major initiative relating to investments and trade is likely to be launched at the Summit.

The Head of the European Parliament is on a visit from September 30, to October 6 at the invitation of Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee.

The Strategic Partnership between the EU and India was launched at the 5th EU-India Summit in The Hague in November,2004.

In addition to the Summit-level meetings, the EU-India dialogue is characterised by meetings at the level of Parliamentarians, Senior Officials as well as Civil Society representatives. The observers said the visit of the EP President is part of this larger process of dialogue and interactions to promote mutual awareness and enhance avenues for further collaboration.

Mr Fontells is also scheduled to meet civil society representatives.

UNI GS RL VV1950