Date:19/01/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/01/19/stories/2008011958991200.htm

International - India & World

CII team to have special meeting with Sarkozy in Paris

Vaiju Naravane

As the French President has cut short India visit by a day

Paris unhappy with New Delhi scrapping Eurocopter deal: sources
No major contract likely to be signed during Sarkozy trip

Paris: With French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s visit to India shortened by an entire day — he will have only one full working day in New Delhi on 25 January — representatives from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will come here on January 22 for a special meeting with him.

Mr. Sarkozy will reach New Delhi on the morning of January 25 and leave the very next evening after taking the Republic Day salute as the chief guest and attending an afternoon “at home” at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. He was initially slated to arrive in Mumbai on January 24 for an event with business leaders.

Sources say the decision to cut short his visit could be linked to India’s decision to scrap the $600-million Eurocopter deal for purchase of 197 Fennec helicopters. Curtailing the visit is a way of communicating the French unhappiness.

Mr. Sarkozy has made the signing of large contracts a major component of his foreign trips and the formal inking of the Eurocopter contract was meant to be a highpoint of the visit. No major contracts are expected to be signed during this visit.

However, the President will make a speech before French and Indian business leaders, addressing the India-France Economic Conference. It is being jointly organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the CII in New Delhi on January 25.

Top businessmen feel that while such a meeting is useful, it does not give them an opportunity to have a meaningful dialogue with the leadership in France. The CII, therefore, requested a special meeting in Paris.

The delegation, which will stop in Paris on its way to the World Economic Forum in Davos, includes industry heavyweights Sunil Mittal, Naresh Goel, Vijay Mallya, N.R. Narayana Murthy, S. Ramadorai, Dhruv Sawhney, S.P. Hinduja, Swati Piramal, B.L. Munjal, Malvinder Singh and Hari Bharatiya, the sources say.