(RTTNews) - India and the European Union (EU) Friday signed an agreement of nuclear fusion energy research for civilian purposes.

India's Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar and European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner inked the deal during the 10th EU-India Summit held in New Delhi.

This allows India for participation in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Research (ITER).

Earlier, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Swedish counterpart Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU, held talks on issues such as climate change, the global financial crisis and energy security.

Addressing a press conference after the summit, Singh said both sides pledged to push ahead with attempts to conclude a free-trade agreement next year.

Free-trade deal talks between India and EU, its biggest trade partner, have stumbled upon a number of non-trade issues since it began in 2007.

The 27-nation bloc and India are set for doubling their bilateral trade to $200 billion by 2014 once the free-trade deal is concluded.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and the trade ministers of Sweden and India also participated in the summit.

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