Singh shakes hands with Belkenende before the India-EU summit in The Hague on Monday. (Reuters)

The Hague, Nov. 8:India and the European Union today decided to crank up their relationship by entering into a ?strategic partnership? to deepen cooperation on key international issues of globalisation, terrorism, proliferation, energy, environment and regional security. Only five other countries ? the US, Japan, Canada, China and Russia ? have strategic partnership with the EU.

The status given to India, therefore, is recognition of its market, technological and political potential.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh summed up his expectations from the new partnership at the India-EU summit, saying: ?International diplomacy is about identifying areas of common ground between differing positions. A strategic partnership should imply more. There should be recognition that both sides respect concerns, even those that may not be fully shared, and make efforts to develop policies and take steps consistent with that awareness.?

Prime Minister Jan Peter Belkenende of the Netherlands, which holds the current EU presidency, shared Singh?s sentiments. He described the pace of the India-EU relationship as ?fast and dynamic?.

He hoped that the strategic partnership would take the relationship to a higher level, lead to cooperation in areas of mutual concern and address the question of instability extending from Western Balkans to Afghanistan.

The two sides committed themselves to dealing with issues that hamper their bilateral trade.

Although the EU is India?s largest trade and investment partner, Singh noted: ?We have agreed that the volume of trade and flow of investment between India and EU is far below their true potential. We have an obligation to see that both the volume of trade and the flow of investment are taken to their optimal level.?

Both India and the EU showed special concern for the emerging energy scenario with prices rising and the demand for oil being fuelled by China and India.

Romano Prodi, chairman of the European Commission, said: ?In my opinion, this is an emergency.?

He held that the development of no country in the world should be held up because of energy supply problems and called for international scientific, technical and political cooperation. He suggested the setting up of an international energy panel to deal with the situation.

India and the EU have also decided to extend their cooperation in frontier technology areas ? India has decided to collaborate in principle with the EU?s Galileo Satellite Navigation System and shown interest in participating in its international thermonuclear experimental reactor or nuclear fusion technology for generating power.

At the summit, India was led by Singh, who was accompanied by external affairs minister K. Natwar Singh and commerce minister Kamal Nath. European Council president, Belkenende, Prodi and EU high representative Javier Solana represented the European Union.

Although the high point of the summit was the launching of the India-EU strategic partnership, the two sides had prolonged discussions on combating terrorism, strengthening the UN system and the prevailing situation in Iraq, West Asia and Afghanistan among other issues.

At the end of the summit, the two sides also outlined five priority areas that need to be addressed to combat terrorism. They declared their intention to reduce the access of terrorists to financial resources, protect the security of international transport and ensure effective systems of border control; address issues that create an environment conducive to terrorism; strengthen counter-terrorism dialogue; and deepen the international consensus and enhance global efforts to combat terrorism.

Together they declared support for ensuring the universal adherence to and full implementation of all UN Security Council resolutions, UN Conventions on Terrorism. However, the two sides also emphasised that ?the fight against terrorism must be carried out in full respect of human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law?.

Reviewing the developments in Iraq, both sides agreed to continue their support ?to the emergence of a stable, secure, representative and democratic Iraq?.

To this end, they said: ?We will encourage positive engagement and regional support from Iraq?s neighbours for the political and reconstruction process in Iraq.?