<p>Ahead of the India-EU Summit scheduled to be held in New Delhi in February this year, a high-level delegation from the European Union will pay a four-day official visit to India starting on January 15.<br /><br /></p>.<p>As part of the visit, European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton will hold talks with External Affairs Minister S M Krishna in Bangalore on January 16.<br /><br />The discussion between Krishna and Baroness Ashton will cover bilateral issues of trade and tariff. India and EU have been negotiating over a Free Trade Agreement since 2007, which is currently in its final stages. Baroness Ashton’s visit, who is also the Vice-President of the European Commission, can be seen as preparing the ground for the India EU Summit, official sources said. <br /><br />India and the 27-nation EU have been negotiating a comprehensive free-trade pact since June 2007. The EU is India's largest trading partner and bilateral trade in 2009-10 stood at $75 billion.<br /></p>
<p>Ahead of the India-EU Summit scheduled to be held in New Delhi in February this year, a high-level delegation from the European Union will pay a four-day official visit to India starting on January 15.<br /><br /></p>.<p>As part of the visit, European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton will hold talks with External Affairs Minister S M Krishna in Bangalore on January 16.<br /><br />The discussion between Krishna and Baroness Ashton will cover bilateral issues of trade and tariff. India and EU have been negotiating over a Free Trade Agreement since 2007, which is currently in its final stages. Baroness Ashton’s visit, who is also the Vice-President of the European Commission, can be seen as preparing the ground for the India EU Summit, official sources said. <br /><br />India and the 27-nation EU have been negotiating a comprehensive free-trade pact since June 2007. The EU is India's largest trading partner and bilateral trade in 2009-10 stood at $75 billion.<br /></p>