Press Release: EU-India summit in Marseilles: strategic partnership to tackle the major global challenges

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, accompanied by Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, is to travel to Marseilles on 29 September for the annual EU-India summit. India is to be represented by its Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, the Minister for Commerce and Industry, Shri Kamal Nath, and National Security Adviser Shri M. K. Narayanan.
The summit will represent an important milestone in relations between the EU and India, because it will assess, in the light of the current international situation, the strategic partnership which has united the two parties since 2004 and adapt it to reflect the major challenges facing the world today. Items on the agenda include energy security, climate change, food security, the global financial crisis, terrorism and international trade regulation. The summit will also give a new impetus to ongoing negotiations on the free trade agreement and in the aviation and shipping fields.