Indo- EU Summit in New Delhi in November, Presidency to Portugal

New Delhi, July 5 (UNI) In continuation of the process which began seven years ago, the next annual Indo-European Union Summit will be held in New Delhi in November, 2007, it was announced here today.

The announcement was made by the Ambassador of Portugal to India Luis Fillpe Castro Mandes who said the agenda of the next summit will focus on issues of climate change, co-operation in the field of science and technology and in a broader way taking forward the Indo-EU strategic partnership.

Mr Mandes was addressing a Press Conference on the occassion of launch of the Portugese Presidency of the EU.

He disclosed that negotiations began last week in Brussels for an EU-India Free Trade Agreement. It will have a broad-based agenda and will be entitled 'Trade and Investment Agreement,' encompassing goods, services, Intellectual Property Rights and competition policy. The negotiations are scheduled to be held in New Delhi in October.

"These annual Summits between the EU and India are now seven years old, having begun precisely under the previous Portugese Presidency of the EU in 2000, with the visit of the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Lisbon", Mr Mandes said.

Portugese Prime Minister Jose Socrates in his capacity as President of the European Council would representing the European side in the coming Summit, together with the President of the the European Commission Joes Manuel Barosso, by concidence himself a former Prime Minister of Portugal, and also the High Representatve of the Council Javier Solana.

This would also be the first ever bilateral visit of a Portugese Prime Minister to India in 30 years of diplomatic relations, Mr Mendes said.

Last January the President of Portugal had visted India.

The Summit will be preceded by a Euro-India Business Summit to be held in Delhi on November 29 , organised by AIP- CIP on behalf of UNICE together with CII and FICCI.

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