Press release, General Affairs and External Relations

EU-India Summit in Helsinki on 13 October

03 Oct 2006, 13:23 en fr de fi sv

Finland, the current holder of the EU Presidency, will organise the EU-India Summit in Helsinki on Friday, 13 October. The EU delegation will be lead by Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen and the Indian delegation by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The EU will be represented also by the President of the European Commission, Jos Manuel Barroso; High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana; Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Erkki Tuomioja; Finnish Minister for Trade and Development, Paula Lehtomäki; and Members of the European Commission, Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Peter Mandelson. In addition to Prime Minister Singh, Minister for Commerce and Industry, Kamal Nath, will represent India during the Summit.

The central aim of the Helsinki Summit is to strengthen strategic partnership between the European Union and India in line with the joint action plan adopted in September 2005 in New Delhi. The summit agenda includes trade policy issues, climate and energy issues and cooperation in the field of science and technology. Key international and regional issues, such as cooperation in the fight against terrorism and the situation in the Middle East, will also be discussed.

Cooperation between the EU and India has been fostered since the 1960s. The EU-India relations have developed quite favourably in recent years. Indias stronger international role and fast economic growth provide a new foundation for cooperation with the EU.

The Finnish and Indian Prime Ministers will also attend the EU-India Business Summit organised on Thursday, 12 October. Attendants will include also the EU Commissioner for Trade, Peter Mandelson.



Further information: Johan Schalin, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister, Prime Ministers Office, tel. +358 9 1602 2068; Rauli Suikkanen, Counsellor, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 5523; Sanna Kangasharju, Deputy Head of Information, Government Communications Unit, tel. +358 9 1602 2175 or +358 40 731 9915; and on media arrangements Mika Häkkinen, Press Attache, Secretariat for Finlands EU Presidency, tel. +358 9 1602 2609 or +358 40 772 6424

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