Indian PM to discuss trade and counter- terrorism with European Union

KUN0039 4 GEN 0577 FRANCE /AFP -DAV8 POL-INDIA-EU-SUMMIT Indian PM to discuss trade and counter- terrorism with European Union leaders NEW DELHI, Oct 7 (KUNA) -- Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who embarks on a six-day visit to the United Kingdom and Finland on Monday, will have bilateral talks with his British counterpart Tony Blair and later with other European leaders at the India-European Union (EU) Summit in Helsinki with the main focus on trade and counter-terrorism. Arriving in London on October 9, Singh will address the India-UK Investment Summit on October 10, Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Mennon said at press conference in Delhi Saturday. The UK is a key partner for India in view of a large Indian community of around 1.5 million people living in the country and the two countries have close political, economic and cultural relations, Menon said. Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma and a 70-member business delegation are also accompanying the Indian Prime Minister. Talks between Singh and Blair are expected to cover the Mumbai blasts and a joint strategy to counter-terrorism as the UK has also been a victim of terror, the Foreign Secretary said. Security and other economic collaborations including the civilian nuclear energy cooperation with the US are also expected to come up during the talks, he added. The two Prime Ministers have met four times since May 2004 when the Indo-British Joint Declaration establishing a Strategic Partnership was adopted. Following the adoption of the Statetegic Partnership in September 2004, several important developments have taken place including creation of the Joint Economic and Trade Committee and the initiation of an economic and financial dialogue. On October 11, the Prime Minister will travel to Cambridge where he will be conferred an honorary degree by the University. In the Finnish capital Helsinki, the Indian Prime Minister will have bilateral talks with his counterpart Matti Vanhanen on bilateral trade and also opportunities in various sectors including IT and tourism. Finnish companies have shown increasing interest in investing in India. Presently there are about 30 Finnish joint ventures and other 70 Finnish companies have appointed local agents in India. There are about 1, 200 Indians in Finalnd and most of them are engaged in business. On October 13, the Prime Minister will address the seventh India- EU Summit where he will give a review on the economic relations between the two entities, the Foreign Secretary said. Considering that the EU is India's largest trading partner, the EU-India trade has been growing steadily, reaching 40 billion euros in 2005. India is the 14th largest exporter to the EU and had a share of 1.6 per cent in the total EU imports. On the other hand, India is the 11th largest importer of the EU's products and had a share of two per cent in the EU's global exports. Also, EU is one of the largest sources of Foreign Direct Investment for India. The total FDI inflows from EU to India are eight billion dollars and India's FDI inflows into the EU were 600 million Euros. The last India- EU Summit, held in New Delhi in 2005, endorsed a Joint Action Plan for strengthening the dialogue and consultation mechanism. The Prime Minister is likely to review this mechanism and form strategies to take it forward, Menon said.(ends) dr.bn KUNA 071544 Oct 06NNNN