Manmohan Singh to leave for 11th India-EU Summit

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be leaving shortly for Brussels to participate in the 11th India-EU Summit and also to hold a bilateral summit meeting with his Belgian counterpart, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Tuesday.

The PM would also be going to Berlin for a summit meeting with Chancellor Merkel, a MEA spokesperson said.

The 11th India-EU Summit is the first to be held after the Lisbon Treaty came into force on Dec 1, 2009.

At the summit, leaders will hold discussions on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual concern.

EU is an important trading partner of India and also a significant source of investment, the MEA said. The bilateral trade in goods in 2009 was 53 billion euro in value while services traded in the same year at 16.3 billion euro.

The two sides have been in discussion to conclude a broad-based trade and investment agreement. Negotiations are progressing well and India said it is hopeful of concluding the agreement in early 2011.

Prime Minister Singh is visiting Belgium for the 11th India-European Union Summit which is being held in Brussels on December 10, 2010.

The EU side will be represented at the summit by Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council and Jose Barroso, President of the European Commission.

Prime Minister will also have a bilateral meeting with the Belgium Prime Minister Yves Leterme in Brussels on the same day.

On Dec 11, Singh will visit Germany where he will have meetings with the German president Christian Wulff and with Chancellor Angela Merkel.