On the first item that you just mentioned (strengthening of EU institutions), India has an interest too. As you are aware the EU-India strategic partnership began in 2004 with a joint action plan. It will be reviewed. It is clear that a strong European entity with enhanced defense capability is an attractive partner for India. EU is already India's first trading partner.

In the economic, scientific and education fields, the EU is also a leading partner of India. If we strengthen the EU institutions, it will make the Union an even more important political partner for India. Therefore, these objectives of our presidency are of great significance in our relations with India.

Now, you mentioned two other areas of concern: First let us speak of energy and climate change.

As you may have seen in the G8 declaration, a very ambitious target for limitation and reduction of CO2 emissions has been set for 2050. It has not been endorsed by the major emerging economies as India, China and Brazil. We still have to work to convince them that there is no contradiction between economic development and control of CO2 emission.

India's concern is that if it takes quantified commitments, it will have to reduce its growth rate. We understand this very well. If we tell India to slow its economic growth for the sake of climate change, India will certainly refuse as its emission per head is low.

We want to conduct a dialogue to see how to enhance economic growth and at the same time control the emissions of CO2. It concretely means to use other energy supply (here the nuclear deal comes into the picture), better energy efficiency, a new accent on renewable energies and (find) the financing for all of this. The link between economic development and CO2 emission is not automatic and we can work on it. It is one of the ambitions of our summit in Paris, coming September.

The Indian prime minister has already expressed that one can't expect India to have the same norms as the EU

Of course, nobody can expect India to have European targets of reduction! It is not even conceivable. We just say that there is a way to have emerging countries, particularly India in a proactive agreement on how to fight climate change and this should translate into appropriate quantified objectives. It is far more powerful when you agree on a target than on a principle.

Do you think that this point has entered into the consciousness of the political class in India?

I feel that there is a lot of promise. I find that the business community has evinced keen interest in combining investment policy with energy efficiency. For instance, take a coal mine. In India, the energy content of coal is rather low. As a result, the CO2 emission is high and the energy efficiency is just average. There are techniques which make it possible to correct these drawbacks and make Indian coal more efficient in terms of CO2 emission and energy content. It is a win-win investment.

Likewise, there are many other industries, such as the steel industry, where the technology investment helps you to reduce emission and increase energy efficiency. Business people are very interested. Besides Dr R K Pachauri, who chairs the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, there are other people who promote similar ideas. I am sure that if this can be proved on actual projects, India will consider these options.

Image: The Eiffel Tower is illuminated in blue with gold stars, representing the European Union flag, to mark the French EU presidency on June 30, 2008. French President Nicolas Sarkozy assumed leadership of the European Union and will hold the title for six months. Photograph: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Also read: Dr R K Pachauri speaks!

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