India, EU to strengthen tech cooperation
New
Delhi,
Nov
30:
India
and
the
European
Union
will
strengthen
their
science
and
technology
cooperation
and
chart
out
new
areas
for
strategic
partnership
at
the
eighth
Indo-EU
Summit
here
today.
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will lead the Indian delegation, and is expected to discuss pressing global issues like climate change, challenges posed by terrorism and ways to improve bilateral trade and investment.
Dr. Singh will also discuss about the civil nuclear issue with Portugal"s Prime Minister Jose Socrates, who currently heads the 27-member grouping.
Dr. Singh is likely to apprise Socrates about the progress in talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on safeguards agreement, considering that the EU is closely watching these negotiations before it can firm up its position on India's quest for civil nuclear cooperation with the international community.
Improving trade and investment ties between the EU countries and India is another key area that will dominate the discussions at the summit.
The two sides will sign an agreement for upgrading scientific and technological cooperation and a Memorandum of Understanding on Multi-Annual Indicative Programme 2007-2010 in development cooperation.
The summit aims to redefine the steps to facilitate and implement policies for growth, examine new vistas for boosting trade and investment, analyse centres of competencies and leverage them for mutual benefit, replicate significant success stories and recommend regulatory reforms to enhance business climate.
The past few years have seen India becoming a global player, attracting growing interest and attention as a leader and increasingly engaging with other players on its own terms.
India's
ties
with
the
EU,
in
particular,
have
developed
exponentially
in
scope
and
intensity
in
the
recent
years.
In
2000,
the
EU-India
Partnership
took
a
quantum
leap
with
the
decision
to
hold
regular
annual
summits.
The
summit
will
provide
great
opportunity
for
deliberations,
networking,
and
exchange
of
ideas
amongst
the
participants
from
India
and
the
EU.
Past
summits
have
played
a
crucial
role
to
help
raise
issues
to
augment
bilateral
trade
relations
and
investment
between
India
and
the
EU
nations.
ANI
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