JOIN USA delegation of the European Parliament on Monday expressed “disappointment” over New Delhi’s decision to call off Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposed visit to Brussels for a summit with the leadership of the 28-nation bloc.
The members regretted the delay on part of Brussels to respond to New Delhi’s proposal for the prime minister’s visit to the capital of the union.
They insisted that the delay occurred because a new team had of late taken office at the headquarters of the European Union (EU), and not because Brussels wanted to snub New Delhi over the issue of prolonged trial of two Italian Navy personnel in India.
“This (trial of Italian Navy personnel) should not be a matter which affects relationship between the EU and India,” Geoffrey Van Orden, who leads the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with India, told journalists in New Delhi.
“This (the relationship between India and EU) is something far larger and wider platform. That is why we have expressed disappointment that the summit has been postponed,” he added.
Modi is likely to visit Germany and France in April and New Delhi had proposed that a tour to Brussels could also be added to his itinerary so that the prime minister could hold the India-EU summit with European Council president Donald Tusk and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker.
New Delhi’s proposal for the prime minister’s visit to Brussels and his meetings with the EU top brass did not receive any response from Brussels for weeks. The Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of External Affairs last week decided to postpone the summit indefinitely. Official sources confirmed on Monday that the prime minister would not be visiting Brussels, though he would be travelling to Paris and Berlin next month.