India bank unions call off two-day strike -official

MUMBAI, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Indian bank unions called off a planned two-day strike that was due to start on Monday after the unions and banking officials decided to meet next month to resolve their differences, a union spokesman said.

"Yes, we have called off the strike as of now, and we are going to hold discussions with the Indian Banks Association (IBA) to reach an understanding," C.H. Venkatachalam, convenor of the United Forum of Bank Unions and joint secretary of the All India Bank Employees Association, told Reuters.

Venkatachalam said the unions and the IBA would meet on March 3 to iron out their differences.

Nine bank unions, representing 900,000 workers, are opposing merger proposals for state-run banks, including the subsidiaries of leader State Bank of India (SBI.BO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), and seeking pensions for all bank staff.

India had 82 commercial banks, including 29 foreign banks, and nearly 3,000 urban and rural cooperative banks at March 2007. (Reporting by Saikat Chatterjee)