EU vigilant against misuse of aid to Pakistan

New Delhi, Nov 4 : Two days ahead of a bilateral summit, the 27-nation European Union Wednesday sought greater cooperation with India in countering terrorism and underlined that it is extremely vigilant about ensuring that aid given to Pakistan is not misused.

"It's true that the EU has delivered substantial aid to Pakistan for humanitarian purposes. We are extremely vigilant about the way our aid is used," Daniele Smadja, ambassador and head of the EU delegation in New Delhi, told reporters here.

She was responding to a question on India's concerns about international aid to Pakistan which it fears is being diverted for funding anti-India terrorists.

"We have various mechanisms in place to try to ensure that the aid is properly used," the EU envoy said ahead of the 10th India-EU summit here Friday.

"Whenever we have discussions with India, we listen very carefully to what it is saying about its neighbours," she said.

Calling for greater counter-terror cooperation between India and the EU, the envoy said terrorism will be an important issue during discussions between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with his Swedish counterpart Fredrik Reinfeldt, also chairman of the Swedish presidency of the EU, and president of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso.

The EU's counter-terrorism coordinator Gilles de Kerkove visited India last month to explore ways to deepen counter-terror cooperation.

The situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan will figure in discussions. Other regional issues like Sri Lanka and the peace process in the Middle East are also expected to crop up in talks, she said.

The EU held its first summit with Pakistan in June and offered $100 million aid, trade concessions and help in the area of counter-terrorism. The EU had pledged 485 million euros for Pakistan over five years at an international donors' conference in April.

India and the EU will hold their 10th summit Friday that is expected to give a fresh momentum to a broadbased trade and investment pact and expand cooperation in areas ranging from counter-terrorism and global financial crisis to energy security and climate change.

--IANS