India, EU work on free trade pact for 2008 at summit talks

India, EU work on free trade pact for 2008 at summit talks
NEW DELHI (AFP) - The European Union and India held summit talks on Friday, working towards a 2008 target for a free trade pact between the 27-member bloc and the South Asian giant, officials said. "We are hopeful that by the time the next summit materialises we will be in a position to conclude the agreement," which is due by the end of next year, Premier Manmohan Singh told a press conference.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso added: "We believe that it (the free trade deal) should be an ambitious one. In fact today a great part of the meeting was related to trade."

The EU is India's largest trading partner, accounting for a fifth of India's total trade, and is also one of its most important sources of foreign investment.

Officials from both sides had set the tone for the day with calls for a free trade deal to be wrapped up by next year.

Indian Trade Minister Kamal Nath had Thursday urged a successful and early conclusion of a free trade pact and European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson voiced similar hopes.

The eighth EU-India Summit was intended to forge closer strategic ties and also deepen cooperation in "energy, climate change and World Trade Organisation talks," said an EU mission statement in New Delhi.

Both Singh and his Portuguese counterpart Jose Socrates said India and the EU accorded high priority to climate change.

Socrates hoped a December 3-14 UN conference in Bali on climate change would yield "a roadmap" for the reduction of emissions.

Singh meanwhile said he had conveyed New Delhi's "readiness to engage constructively in international efforts to preserve the environment."

"We seek a solution that does not perpetuate poverty in developing countries," Singh added.

In a joint statement India and the EU said they were committed to the stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations.

"The EU and India agreed to work together bilaterally to accelerate their countries' transitions towards a low carbon economy," they said.

India and the EU "are committed to moving forward in the United Nations forum and called on all parties to actively and constructively participate" in the Bali conference.

"They emphasised the importance of a post 2012 agreement for greenhouse gas reduction commitment by developed countries in facilitating significant cost reductions of clean technologies," the statement added.

The year 2012 marks the expiry of current commitments by developed countries to cut emissions.

Singh and Barroso had held late morning talks with their delegations which included Indian foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee, trade minister Kamal Nath and national security advisor M. K. Narayanan.

On the stalled World Trade Organisation trade talks, the joint statement said "the successful and timely outcome of the .... multilateral trade negotiations remains the foremost trade policy priority," of both sides.

"Both sides are determined to work closely together to ensure the successful conclusion of the negotiations through a comprehensive, balanced and ambitious outcome in all areas of negotiation," it added

On the political front, the sessions focused on the situation in Nepal, where both sides regretted the delay in holding elections, and on Sri Lanka and Pakistan besides Africa and the Middle East, an EU statement said.

Deals were signed Friday on scientific, technological and development cooperation.

The EU had earmarked 470 million euro (690 million dollars) to promote economic development with India over the next five years, Barroso wrote in an article published in the Indian media on Friday.