EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and about 50 business executives will join Blair at the September 7 summit, which will discuss steps to strengthen political ties and boost trade and investment flows.
Britain currently holds the EU presidency. N. Srinivasan, chief executive of the Confederation of Indian Industry that will co-host the summit's business chapter, said leaders will address disagreements over several trade policy issues, which have marred recent progress in economic cooperation.
The EU accounts for a fifth of India's exports. India is a strong critic of the European Union's policy of providing billions of dollars in subsidies to farmers, which opponents say distorts global agriculture trade.
New Delhi wants the subsidies eliminated before European governments can pursue greater market access for its businesses in countries like India.
European countries are also accused of increasingly creating non-tariff barriers to trade, such as invoking sanitary and environmental standards to ban certain imports.
The EU side also will raise its concerns, said Steffano Gatto, the first counselor of the European Commission in New Delhi.
"We find the tariffs are high here compared with many countries where we do business," Gatto said. European businesses have been slow to invest in India because existing rules discourage foreign investment, he said.
Still, both sides will strive to consolidate on where they agree and what they have in common, the officials said. Gatto said trade between India and the European Union was growing despite the policy differences.
Two-way trade totaled $33.2 billion last year, slightly short of the $35 billion target set at the first India-EU summit held in 2000, he said. The summit alternates annually between India and Europe.
