German Foreign Minister for EU Free Trade Agreement with India

Diplomatic sources said the meeting between the two Ministers held on the sideslines of the ASEM Summit here was "good".

Both went through the bilateral agenda and agreed that Indo-German relations are excellent and shall be further strengthened.

India showed great interest in Germany's assistance in fostering the vocational training system, sources said adding that Westerwelle was clearly in favour of a European Union Free Trade Agreement with India.

"It would be important to make concrete progress now," sources quoted him as saying.

The two sides have not been able to reach consensus on the agreement which has remained under negotiations since June 2007.

The negotiations for a free trade agreement, officially described as Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA), have missed several deadlines.

India has been seeking a single visa for its professionals on short-term contractual visits to the European Union. On the other hand, the 27-nation bloc has been asking for significant reduction in customs duty on cars,wines and spirits on their exports to India.

The two sides also have differences on inclusion of intellectual property rights (IPR) and data security in the agreement. The EU wants India to commit on IPR over and above the WTO obligations.

Khurshid is here to participate in the 9th summit of the 48-member Asia-Europe meeting to be held between November 5-6, his first overseas visit since becoming External Affairs Minister.

Khurshid will speak on "global issues" and on "future direction of ASEM" at the two-day summit of the trans- continental grouping.