| Belgium backs NSG membership, agrees to cooperate in N-research |
NEW DELHI Backing India’s membership of the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), Belgium on Wednesday agreed to cooperate with India in the field of nuclear research and hoped India and the European Union should be able to seal a free trade agreement by early next year.
External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Didier Reynders held talks that covered a wide gamut of bilateral issues, including steps to intensify trade and investment and cooperation in the energy sector.
They also discussed a cluster of global issues, including UN reforms, the global financial crisis, climate change, nuclear energy and the Eurozone recession. During the talks, Reynders conveyed Belgium’s support for India’s membership of the NSG, an elite club of 46 nations that controls the global trade in nuclear equipment and energy.
The two sides also discussed closer collaboration in nuclear research, including atomic medicine, a niche area in which Belgium possesses know-how and expertise.
Reynders also assured India that it was monitoring the activities of organisations like the Kashmir Centre, an outfit allegedly funded by Pakistan’s ISI, in Brussels and stressed that it will take action if it was found to be working against India.
Stepping up trade and investment between India and the EU and India-Belgium trade figured prominently in the discussions.
“With India, we have made progress in certain areas like in the field of goods. There are more difficulties in services and we are trying to solve it,” Reynders said at a joint press conference with Krishna.
He said both sides were constantly talking to each other and many meetings were scheduled to hasten the process towards signing the FTA. He hoped that both sides would soon be able to sign it by the next India-EU summit in February 2013.
Agencies
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