November 28, 2001
'19'RAJYA SABHA |
A high level team of European Union will be visiting India very soon for exploring possibilities of entering into a Memorandum of Understanding in the textile sector. Mr. Kashiram Rana, Minister of Textiles replying to supplementaries during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha today, said that the discussions with the European Union Trade Commissioner, Mr. Pascal Lamy in New Delhi were fruitful and the response of the European Union Trade Commissioner was positive. In order to promote exports, Ministry of Textiles has reduced tariff in some categories and hiked the duty drawback rates for certain items.
In another supplementary question, the Minister of State for Textiles, Mr. V. Dhananjaya Kumar, replied that this is no direct collaboration with Pakistan to protect interests in the textile sector against European Union. However, efforts are made to involve all developing countries, including Pakistan, for raising the common concerns related to textile sector at appropriate fora. Through European Union has entered into Memorandum of Understanding with Pakistan, but the exports from India have not been affected by this agreement.