One agreement is on customs co-operation to facilitate trade, while the other is to improve maritime ties, aimed at reducing shipping times and costs, said the ambassador of the European Commission (news - web sites) Francisco da Camera Gomes.

The centrepiece of the one-day summit on Saturday will be India's formal commitment to the Galileo project, the 3.2 billion euro European satellite project meant to rival the Global Positioning System (news - web sites) run by the US Defence Department.

India is set to take a 350 million-dollar (300 million-euro) stake in project, which is bigger than China's stake, Gomes said.

Galileo, due to be operational by 2008, will feature 30 satellites capable of tracking everything from aircraft to cars. Both India and the EU say the system will be for civilian use only.

"The Galileo declaration is not yet a final agreement. Negotiations are in the early phases ... what remains to be negotiated is the practical technicalities," Gomes said.

Italy's ambassador to India, Bennetto Amari, whose country currently holds the presidency of the EU, said the summit would send out a series of messages to the international community.

"The first would be a renewed engagement of the EU and India for strengthening the United Nations (news - web sites) and a reconfirmation of our efforts to make a the United Nations central to international life," Amari said.

The EU will also "recognise" India's efforts to preserve its democracy, Amari said.

Another message from the summit would be that terrorism has no place or justification, can hit everybody, every country and needs a collective response, he said.

Both sides would review regional crises -- in Afghanistan (news - web sites), the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iraq (news - web sites), and the situation in Sri Lanka and Nepal, Amari said.

On Iraq, Amari said differences among EU member states on American action against Baghdad had reduced.

Italy, along with Britain and Spain, has been supportive of US action in Iraq, while the EU's two biggest members, France and Germany, have been bitter critics of Washington's policies.

Amari said India's role in the Iraq crisis had been appreciated by the EU.

New Delhi quietly opposed the war in Iraq and refused a US request to send peacekeeping troops.

All rights reserved. � 2003 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

Related Links
SpaceDaily
Search SpaceDaily
Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only