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India-EU ministers discuss emerging challenges
January 30, 2013, 12:11 pm

Indian foreign minister Salman Khurshid. [Xinhua]

Indian foreign minister Salman Khurshid. [Xinhua]

The 13th EU-India ministerial meeting is scheduled to take place in Brussels today.

India will be represented by minister of external affairs Salman Khurshid and the EU will be represented by its representative vice president Catherine Ashton.

The Indian foreign minister will have discussions on enhancing common approaches to address new and emerging challenges apart from ways to push long-pending India-EU trade accord.

EU Vice President Ashton said: “India is an extremely important partner for us in the region and in international fora. Since the signature of the Strategic Partnership, our cooperation has gone from strength to strength. I hope we can build on that at the Ministerial meeting.”

India and the European Union are bound by strong and friendly ties. India was among the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the European Economic Community.

“Today, EU is one of our largest trading partners, and an important source of technology and home to a large and influential Indian diaspora.

“Both sides endeavour to develop common approaches to address new and emerging challenges,” a press release by the External Affairs Ministry of India said.

India will be the partner country in the Europalia 2013, the internationally acclaimed cultural festival hosted in Belgium from October 2013 to January 2014.

 Source: Agencies