India and the EU have set up a high level group to study possibilities of a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) that would cover trade in goods, services, and investments and submit a proposal during the Helsinki summit in October. Revealing this move to strengthen bilateral bonds, Federal Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath said that while India was committed to the multi-lateral talks under the World Trade Organization (WTO), it is also practical. Nath emphasized that this relationship will enable India and the EU to work together to remove distortions on agricultural trade and bring convergence.
Bilateral relationship with Germany particularly is growing rapidly through trade and investments. For example, Indian trade with Germany is growing at 20% and expected to double this year to Euro 10 billion from Euro 5 billion just 3 years ago and covers high-end engineering, defense, counter-terrorism, infrastructure, Information Technology, bio-technology, pharmaceuticals, and the automobile sectors. Additionally, there is increased investment and interaction with small and medium businesses from Germany.
