India, EU ink civil aviation pact

Civil aviation minister Praful Patel said India and European Union were looking forward to a broader horizontal agreement not only in the field of negotiating traffic rights, but also encompassing air traffic control, communications, navigation and surveillance and other related areas. Patel and European Commission vice-president Jacques Barrot signed an agreement to increase cooperation on the EU-India civil aviation project. The EU-India Civil Aviation Project is the largest economic cooperation project between EU and India. It was formally launched in February 2001. It will be completed in November 2006. The signatories to the contract are: the ministry of civil aviation of the government of India, the Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe, Hindustan Aeronautices Limited and Society of Indian Aerospace Technology and Industry. “In the area of aviation, there are many sub-heads we need to work more meaningfully. This agreement is a step towards a broader cooperation between us,” Patel said.

Barrot said he was looking particularly at developing closer ties on the technical front and pilot training and was also happy that the India and European Aviation Safety Agency would work more closely with each other. “We are happy to open the doors for India to join the programme. There is a need to improve airport infrastructure as the traffic s expected to double or triple in the near future. India will be facing similar problems that we faced in the past. We will be glad to share our experience in the field.” Reportedly, the Prime Minister’s Trade and Economic Relations Committee had said that the aviation ministry should make an effort towards an open skies policy with Asian by 2012.Speaking on the issue, the minister insisted that to set such an early deadline would be unrealistic as the ministry would first have to take into account the interest of the Indian carriers. Though he said that he does not oppose any negotiations on open skies with Asean but to be able to compete successfully, the Indian carriers should be allowed to grow and take on competition with the bigger carriers like Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways etc.

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