Brussels, April 29 A business partnership summit between India and the European Union (EU) will be held here October 1-3 to build a strategic partnership between India and the 27-member bloc, organisors of the event said on Wednesday.

The three-day summit titled "India Calling 2009" will be organised by the Mumbai-based Indian Merchants' Chamber (IMC) in association with the Brussels-based Europe India Chamber of Commerce (EICC) and Belgo-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

"The objectives of the conference are to show what India is, what India can offer, and how we can do bilateral trade together as partners," Gul Kripalani, the president-elect of IMC, told EuAsiaNews in an interview.

Kripalani, who is in Brussels for meetings to give the final touches to the conference, said about 120 participants from India and an equal number from EU countries were expected to take part in the conference.

EU Commissioners, top EU diplomats, members of European Parliament will also be invited to participate, he said.

According to Kripalani, this is the right time to organise the summit because India has not been hit that bad from the economic crisis.

The 1.2 billion population of India makes it the top market for any one interested, he noted.

Sunil Prasad, EICC secretary general, said that the event, first of its kind in Europe, was being held at a time when the global economy including the economy of Europe was in deep recession and were looking for definite direction to recover.

The India Calling Conference will offer opportunities for Indian and European business leaders and entrepreneurs to discuss the emerging global economic issues and how they can restructure their business practices and create business models that will help them to emerge from the current economic slowdown, said Prasad.

Founded in 1907, IMC is a leading chamber of trade, commerce and industry in India. It has been organising the India Calling Business yearly summits since 2004.