European Parliament to discuss Kashmir in Feb

New Delhi, Jan 31: The European Parliament will discuss the Kashmir issue in February in Brussels in the presence of Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Ambassador Fransisco Da Gamara Gomes, Head of the European Commission delegation in India, said here today.

"There will be a discussion specifically on Kashmir sometime in February," he said at a news conference he addressed along with German Ambassador to India Bernd Mutzelburg, whose country assumed Presidency of the European Union on January 1.

Terming as ridiculous the aspersions cast on Baroness Emma Nicholson's draft report on Kashmir, Ambassador Gomes said she was a well-respected British politician and had presented a balanced report.

The report had been discussed in the European Parliament last week and some 445 amendments had been suggested. It would come up for discussion again in March.

The report, which had come in for sharp criticism in Pakistan, is seen to be quite favourable to India on the Kashmir issue.

The German Ambassador, meanwhile, announced that the first India-EU Ministerial on Science and Technology will be held here on March 7-8.

The meeting would be co-chaired by Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal, German Federal Minister for Education and Research Annette Schavan and European Commissioner for Science and Research Janez Potocnik.

The Science Ministerial would be attended by ministers or their designated highlevel representatives from the 27 EU member-states, many of which have signed bilateral agreements with India.

Mr Mutzelburg said February 8 would witness a unique event when nearly 500 Indian students of science of Ph.D. level would interact with science icons from Europe.

"The event will underscore the importance of the growing science and technology cooperation for providing a strong basis to the overall India-EU strategic partnership," he said.

Mr Mutzelburg said many other important India-EU events were planned during Garmany's Presidency of the EU.

UNI