French president Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday asked India to open up various sectors of its economy. ""We have not come here with bulging pockets to strike deals. We are looking for equal partners as we believe in your future even more than you do,"" he said, addressing a meet organized by Confederation of Indian Industry, reported The Hindu.

President Sarkozy chose to speak extempore, leaving aside the speech written for him, which he candidly admitted was not written by him.
France sees opportunity in sectors such as infrastructure and technology in India, while it wants to open its markets for textile, petrochemical, agricultural and food processing products from India.
""There are some complex things which we don't understand ... there are countries that are not open enough,"" he said.
President Sarkozy, who is visiting India for the second time during his tenure in the office, said that the global recession has highlighted the need for faster and more pragmatic approach while addressing problems.
""It is said that politics and business never mix. Today we cannot take it separately as bad decisions taken by political heads of state have had systemic impact,"" he said.
-----Chinese premier’s visit
After Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy, India is now readying to host Chinese premier Wen Jiabao from December 15 to 17, reported Daily News and Analysis (DNA).
This will be the 11th meeting between Jiabao and prime minister Manmohan Singh in the past six years, the latest in November at the Russia-China-India summit in Wuhan (China).
With the stapled visas issue more or less settled, the focus at present will be “difficult issues including border dispute”. The groundwork for a discussion on this issue is believed to have been done by the special representatives from both sides.
The special representatives held talks immediately after the Singh-Jiabao meet in Hanoi (on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit on October 29) where the two leaders spoke about addressing the border dispute. The Chinese premier had also suggested that both sides should reach a consensus on some major issues before his India visit.
In fact, when the two PMs met in Hanoi, China had made conciliatory noises. This was because it had got embroiled in a dispute with Japan. Since then China has made conscious efforts to douse tensions with India.
At the Russia-India-China summit, China had indicated that the stapled visa issue might be solved. Since then people from Jammu and Kashmir heading for China have reported that they have been given regular visas and not stapled ones.
There have also been virtually no reports from the army and intelligence agencies of Chinese incursions across the border, which had become frequent before China’s dispute with Japan after a change of government in Tokyo.
China is the only member of the permanent five United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members. It had refused to endorse India’s bid for a permanent seat on the high table. New Delhi may use this opportunity to push for Chinese support to its bid for a permanent UN Security Council seat. (Source: Agencies)
Photo: In his last leg of four-day visit to India French President Nicolas Sarkozy greets relatives of victims of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, during a tribute in Mumbai on Tuesday. (Photo: PTI)