ON the sidelines of the G-20 Meet, the Indian Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, met the French Minister for Economy, Industry and Employment, Ms Christine Lagarde to share information about Indian money in foreign banks. He drew her attention to the amendments proposed by India in the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC). He suggested that the negotiations should start early.

Earlier, Mr Mukherjee held a bilateral meeting with his French counterpart and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting in Paris on 18th February, 2011. Both the leaders discussed a number of bilateral and multilateral issues. The Finance Minister underlined the need for greater engagement in trade and investment between the two countries. He also referred to the agreements signed between Areva and NPCIL for setting-up nuclear power plant in India and the need to expedite the execution of same.

The Finance Minister also drew the attention of French Minister to other important issues during the French Presidency of G-20 including ensuring economic recovery on a sustainable basis, problems of volatility of commodity prices, especially those of food and energy and ensuring that the volatility of capital flows do not disturb the equilibrium.

The French Minister for Economy, Industry and Employment indicated that the French team was working on the amendment proposed by India on the DTAC and the information for tax purposes would be discussed shortly with Indian administration.