India, EU seek to forge unity on trade, climate
(Recasts with joint news conference)
By Surojit Gupta and Y.P. Rajesh
NEW DELHI, Nov 30 (Reuters) - India hopes to seal a free trade pact with the EU next year and sought joint efforts to combat climate change ahead of an environment summit next week, leaders said on Friday.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said a trade deal, which Europe sees cementing its presence in fast-growing Asia and spurring growth, should be concluded before the next annual summit between the two sides.
He also said that successful conclusion of the Doha round of world trade talks remained the top trade policy priority of both India and the EU.
"We are hopeful that this agreement will be in place by the time of the next summit," Singh told a joint news conference at the end of the eighth India-EU summit in New Delhi.
India is one of the world's largest polluters and is under pressure from the developed world to cut emissions and agree to new limits after the Kyoto Protocol lapses in 2012.
New Delhi, however, has been resisting these pressures and says it cannot agree to caps on emissions -- while saying that it is doing its best to reduce greenhouse gases -- as that could hurt its sizzling economic growth.
"We need to find pragmatic and practical solutions which would include mitigation and adaptation strategies with fair burden sharing," Singh said.
"We seek a solution that does not perpetuate poverty in developing countries."
Portuguese Prime Minister and European Union President Jose Socrates said the two sides would seek a compromise over emission targets at the UN conference on climate change in Bali, Indonesia, next week.
EU leaders have been saluting India's growing economic clout after a bruising few days in Beijing, where they clashed with Chinese officials over Europe's ballooning deficit with the Asian giant and product safety.
Trade chief Peter Mandelson told a business summit on Thursday a free trade pact with India would boost both economies and help shore up global demand if the world economy cools.
But analysts say a deal could take years and India should beware of signing up quickly to a comprehensive agreement.
"An India-EU free trade agreement is a very strategic idea," said T.K. Bhaumik, chief economist at Reliance Industries Ltd, India's top listed firm. But he said negotiations will be difficult.
"Tariffs are not the real issue. The real issues will be non-tariff barriers such as labour, environment, technical standards and climate change."
The EU is India's largest trading partner, accounting for a fifth of India's total trade, and is also one of its most important sources of foreign investment. (Editing by Mark Williams and Sanjeev Miglani)
