Good Afternoon, Ladies & Gentleman,

I am happy to be here in Berlin today for this India-EU Troika Meeting at the Ministerial level. This has provided us as a useful opportunity to review the entire gamut of our strategic partnership and prepare for the Summit level interaction later this year in India. We were also able to exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual interest such as the fight against terrorism, Afghanistan, Iran, energy and climate change issues.

India the world’s largest democracy and the European Union, the largest union of democracies, share common values. The Strategic Partnership between India and EU is underpinned by these shared values of democracy, pluralism, celebration of diversity, human rights, an independent judiciary and a free press.

The European Union, with which India has a strategic partnership since 2004, is important to India collectively and individually. It is an important trade, technology and investment partner. The EU is also home to a large Indian diaspora.

It has been a little over seven months after the very successful 7th India-EU Summit held in Helsinki in October 2006 and it was a good time to take stock of the progress made since then. The major areas of cooperation under the Joint Action Plan have seen progress. The dialogue and consultation mechanisms have been strengthened. Our President addressed the European Parliament last month in Strasbourg, the first such address by an Indian President.

At the Helsinki Summit both sides had agreed to launch negotiations on a broad based trade and investment agreement. We have noted that the Council of the EU has recently approved the mandate for the European Commission to launch negotiations on the trade and investment agreement with India. We look forward to an early launch of the negotiations.

Cooperation in the fields of science & technology, research and energy are among the important areas of our strategic partnership. In February, we had in New Delhi an important India-EU Ministerial Science meeting, which identified area of future cooperation in the fields of S&T such as drug development, clean energy and infectious diseases. India and the EU are cooperating on the ITER nuclear fusion energy project. Steady progress is also being achieved in the context of the India-EU Energy Panel that is focusing on cooperation in the fields of clean and renewable energy, coal and petroleum and natural gas.

The day before yesterday, I attended the ASEM Ministerial Meeting in Hamburg. We had a most interesting and productive exchange of views at that gathering which virtually brings together the continents of Asia and Europe.

India and the EU are partners working together in addressing global challenges such as terrorism; promoting development which is economically, socially and environmentally sustainable; ensuring energy security and in the effective management of globalization. Together we believe we can make a difference.

I am thankful to Foreign Minister Steinmeier for arranging this interaction. The presence of the Foreign Minister of Portugal is particularly important for the next India-EU Summit which will be held during Portugal’s presidency of the EU. We are convinced that the Summit will mark a new phase in our Strategic Partnership.

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