BRUSSELS, June 16: The European Commission on Wednesday called for a "strategic partnership" between India and the European Union, putting relations with Delhi on a par with its treatment of China.
The commission also said EU governments must offer their "unique experience" in regional integration to India, Pakistan and other South Asian nations. Commission officials said EU cooperation with India must cover politics and business but also space, academia and culture. "Europe needs to change its vision of India," said a senior EU official.
India was undergoing rapid transformation and it was time the 25-nation EU took another look at the benefits of forging closer relations with the world's largest democracy, the official added.
The commission suggested that the EU could provide scholarships for Indian students who wanted to study in Europe and added that "Bollywood could be more in touch with European cinema" as well.
Visa requirements for Indians could be made more flexible, it suggested. The Commission also said India and Europe must take steps to strengthen co-operation in international for a, especially in the sector of conflict prevention and in combating terrorism.
Discussions between the two sides must also focus on nuclear non-proliferation and human rights. "India is changing, dramatically and fast," the Commission document on relations with India underlined.
The new EU blueprint puts the bloc's relations on a quasi- equal footing to Europe's rapidly developing trade and political ties with China. Officials said one of their goals was to increase hitherto China-focused European business leaders' interest in India as the next growth market.
