Both the European Union and India are currently reviewing potential international trade agreements. On Wednesday last week, the executive commission of the EU announced that the two parties would start negotiating on several international trade pacts starting this October. EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said in his address to the European Parliament that the conference, which would be held on October 13 in Helsinki, would recommend both the EU and India to proceed with the planned trade talks.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Joe Borg said that while the negotiations have not yet started, they would send positive signals during the summit regarding the EU's position on the planned trade discussion. It must be noted that earlier in September, Mr. Mandelson commented that the EU was hoping to discuss and close international trade agreements not only with India, but also with South Korea and other nations in Southeast Asia.

The EU trade commissioner reiterated though that bilateral and regional trade deals would not still replace the Doha Round of Trade talks, which has faced years of delay. The round of trade talks was launched by the members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 at the Qatari capital. The negotiations have been aimed to reduce or remove trade barriers in order to promote the liberalization of global trade. However, the international trade talks have been delayed several times due to trade disagreements among the members. The WTO was supposed to reach a consensus last July, but the negotiations collapsed due to disputes regarding the reduction of tariffs and farm subsidies. At present, the WTO members are discussing the possibility of reviving the talks. That would mean though that both the wealthier countries and the developing nations should improve their offers in order to help fuel the talks.

While negotiations regarding the resumption of the international trade talks are currently underway, many trade experts in Europe have focused on Asia, where the EU has not yet closed bilateral or regional trade deals. In the contrary, both the US and Japan have recently established international trade agreements in some parts of the continent. Meanwhile, the ongoing trade negotiations between the EU and India prove that the booming economy of the Asian nation continues to attract more foreign investments, as well as economic deals with other countries. During the recent years, investments particularly in terms of technology and real estate have increased in the country. Meanwhile, India is currently seeking for potential energy deals with other countries in order to secure its future supplies. It must be noted that India's economic boom has also pushed its energy demands to higher levels.