Indian External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh will meet Chris Patten, the Commissioner responsible for external affairs of the European Commission (E.C.), and the foreign minister of Finland, which currently holds the presidency of the E.U.

The Troika Meeting is an annual event, held alternately in New Delhi and within the E.U. It is the highest level of exchange between the two sides and hence the most crucial for determining the future direction of bilateral ties as well as discussing international and regional affairs.

Patten is expected to brief Singh about the outcome of the visit of the special delegation sent by the Finnish government to Islamabad earlier this month to meet military ruler Pervez Musharraf and convey to him a strong message that the E.U. was awaiting a fixed and reasonable time-table for the restoration of democracy. Though Musharraf has thrown up the idea of seeking legitimacy by holding a referendum on the military takeover, this has not cut much ice with the Europeans and they are expected to convey the same to Singh during the Troika Meeting.

India is said to be concerned over the apparently soft approach that the Western countries, especially the U.S. and the E.U., have adopted towards the military takeover.

Patten could use the Troika Meeting to ask India to reciprocate Musharraf's "peace initiative" of withdrawing the Pakistan Army from the international borders, a gesture New Delhi has called a sham as the withdrawal does not include the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, the main flashpoint.

Patten may also bring up international strategic issues like the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and renew the E.U. call for India to sign and ratify the accord.