Interactive Meeting with Jan Zahradil, MEP, April 10, 2006

The India-European Union Forum of Parliamentarians (IEUFP) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) organized an interactive meeting with Mr. Jan Zahradil, Member of the European Parliament and Head of the Czech National Delegation to Group of the European People's Party and European Democrats, at Federation House on April 10, 2006. The Indian Parliamentarians attending the meeting were Mr. Shahid Siddiqui, Mr. Madhu Goud Yaskhi, and Mr. Tarlochan Singh. Mr. Jan Kreuter, Political and Press Secretary of the Czech Embassy, also attended the meeting.

The various issues touched upon during the meeting were the India-EU trade relations, the menace of international terrorism, and India's growing energy needs. The other issues that figured on the agenda were greater economic collaboration, joint research and development, India-EU defence collaboration, scope for the promotion of tourism, and the India-EU shared commitment to global democracy and human rights.

Mr. Siddiqui extended a warm welcome to Mr. Zahradil on behalf of IEUFP. Highlighting the recent trends, Mr. Siddiqui expressed that India-EU ties have grown exponentially from what used to be a purely trade and economic driven relationship to one covering all areas of interaction between India and the EU. He said that in the economic sphere, the creation of a High Level Trade Group and a CEO Business Forum to inject innovative ideas into the India-EU trade scenario would help in enhancing the trade relations among the two entities in many ways.

Mr. Zahradil agreed to the fact that economic relations between India and the EU were at an all-time high, yet, he wanted India to have a more liberal FDI regime, especially in sectors like retail, infrastructure and food. Moreover, he added that European banks were exploring the prospect of a free trade deal between India and the EU. He also said that both India and the EU should recognize the need for an increase in market access on agricultural and non-agricultural products, as well as the key area of services.

In his address, Mr. Yaskhi spoke of the slew of economic and scientific deals signed during the 6th EU Summit in New Delhi in September 2005, including India joining the bloc's Galileo satellite system. He said that Galileo would primarily be used for the geographic positioning of vehicles and other transport modes, as well as for scientific research, land management and disaster monitoring. He further added that Galileo was based on a group of 30 satellites and ground stations providing information to users in areas as diverse as mobile phones and air traffic control and would, theoretically, be able to track even small moving objects like cars.

Speaking on environmental issues, Mr. Singh threw light on the fact that the past couple of years had experienced closer co-operation between India and the EU, notably through the establishment of the Joint Working Group, which provided for an active forum where EU and Indian policy-makers, business and civil society could exchange experiences and ideas. According to him, Tackling Climate Change was another key global challenge, and in order to initiate an active dialogue, the launch of the EU-India Initiative on Clean Development and Climate Change, focusing on voluntary practical measures was quite commendable.

While speaking on energy issues, Mr. Zahradil informed the Parliamentarians that an EU-India Energy Panel consisting of high-level officials had been established to co-ordinate efforts and discuss matters of mutual interest. He further added that working groups had been established on energy efficiency and renewables, and coal and clean coal conversion technologies. India and EU, he said would also cooperate on hydrocarbons as part of steps to intensify bilateral cooperation in the energy sector.

Mr. Siddiqui was highly appreciative of the EU's support for India's bid to join the ITER nuclear reactor project (India had been accepted as a full partner in the ITER Project by consensus on 6 December, 2005), which would use easily available fuels like hydrogen to produce 500 megawatts of power without producing radioactive waste and would work on controlled fusion reactions technology.

Commenting on the progress achieved in the area of civil aviation, Mr. Zahradil spoke at large of the EU-India Civil Aviation project (launched with a total investment of €32 million), which had provided short and long-term training and knowledge transfer, and had helped to strengthen civil air safety and stimulate cooperation between the EU and Indian civil aviation authorities and aerospace industries. He also talked of the conclusion of the EU-India Maritime Transport Project, which had thoroughly improved the efficiency of major Indian ports and helped the Government of India to introduce Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) in Indian ports, for the benefit of India and the EU alike.

Laying an impetus on growing India-EU Science & Technology Co-operation, Mr. Yaskhi talked of the landmark agreement on Science & Technology Co-operation signed between India and the EU in November 2001, which allows Indian scientists to participate in EU research activities and gives European scientists access to similar programmes in India.

On supporting India's entry into the UNSC, Mr. Zahradil remarked that the EU was wary simply because the issue had to be dealt with individually by member states. However, he added that India had the support of EU countries like Britain, France and Germany on this issue. Furthermore, he said that both India and the EU had agreed to consult and discuss positions on human rights and democracy issues, and look at opportunities for co-sponsoring resolutions on thematic issues in relevant fora such as the UN Commission on Human Rights or the UN General Assembly.

To combat the menace of global terrorism, Mr. Singh commented that the two sides resolved to establish contacts between their Counter Terrorism Coordinators, and had specifically agreed to work towards blocking access to terrorist financing and cooperate in the fight against money laundering as well as combat drug trafficking, illicit arms trafficking and cyber-terrorism.

In response, Mr. Zahradil said that India and the EU had also proposed to work together in establishing a dialogue at official level on UN peacekeeping and peace building to exchange perspectives on conceptual and operational aspects of Peacekeeping Operations, including post-conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation in a bid to promote democracy across the world.

Mr. Siddiqui concluded the session on the note that the present state of positivity in India-EU cooperation encompassing areas as varied as trade, transport, environment, energy, science and technology, space, information and communication technologies, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, industrial policy, and agriculture, envisaged the future scope of ties between the two entities, which was expected to grow from strength to strength with each passing year.

Mr. Zahradil expressed happiness at being able to acquaint himself with the Parliamentarians at the meeting and pledged his support to the efforts being undertaken to concretize the bilateral relationship between India and the EU.