|
Fredrik Reinfeldt, Prime Minister of Sweden, is on three-day visits to New Delhi to participate in the 10th summit between India and the group of 27 European Union (EU) nations.
Manmohan Singh, the Indian Prime Minister, will discuss several bilateral and global issues with his Swedish counterpart. The topics will focus on global economic meltdown, economic ties, climate change and ways to strengthen cooperation between the two nations in the area of nuclear energy and non-renewable energy.
S.M. Krishna, the External Affairs Minister; Anand Sharma, Commerce Minister; Farooq Abdullah, Minister for Renewable Energy; and Shyam Saran, the envoy of the Indian Premier on climate change and nuclear issues will attend discussions at the delegation level.
Reinfeldt, who is also the chairman of the Swedish presidency of the EU, is likely to seek support from India and speak on the stance of the EU on climate change at The Energy and Research Institute (TERI).
For the visiting foreign guest, Manmohan Singh will organize a lunch.
This is said to be the maiden visit to India by the Swedish Premier in the past five years. As the days of the UN climate change summit at Copenhagen are coming closer, Reinfeldt, who is also the chairperson of the rotating presidency of the EU, will seek support from India for a fresh global agreement that is stuck in debate among rich and growing nations over the prices of mitigation and emission goals.
Previous week, the EU summit admitted that the wealthy nations should provide growing countries with up to 50 billion euros per year by 2020 to enable them to fight climate change, but did not clarify as to how much it was ready to offer. This stance has not been appreciated by India, as it proposes common and separate responsibilities and seeks intense carbon emission reduction by rich nations.
Full support in the field of renewable energy will feature significantly in the talks.
Sweden is a part of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group and is ready to extend its support to New Delhi in the area of nuclear waste management and security. Sources revealed that this point will also be taken up in the discussions.
A group of Swedish companies, which specializes in the field of nuclear technology and safety management, visited India in the month of April this year. On this exploratory trip, the delegation held meetings with officials of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL). They also had a discussion with Anil Kakodkar, the chief of the Atomic Energy Commission of India.
Trade and economic deals between the two nations have grown 5 times in the past 8 years reaching about $2 billion. Sweden has become the 12th biggest investor in India. Deccan Herald
November 5, 2009
|
