10. februar 2012, 14:01 – opdateret 10. februar 2012, 14:10

Denmark's growing diplomatic crisis with India has taken a turn for the worse after President Pratibha Devisingh Patil announced he won't be visiting Copenhagen this summer as planned.

The Indian President had been invited to officially open 'India Today/Copenhagen Tomorrow', a major Danish-Indian project aimed at 'linking the people of India and Denmark through the exchange of culture, science and trade', but has backed out due to the repercussions of the High Court ruling that prevented convicted arms dealer Niels Holck from being extradited due to concern that he could be tortured.

Peter Thagesen, Director of International Market Policy at DI, The Confederation of Danish Industries, said the stand-off puts a stop to Denmark’s hopes of participating in any major projects in India and brings back memories of the Mohammed crisis six years ago, when Danish products were banned throughout the Middle East.

The latest dip in the strained relationship between Copenhagen and Delhi comes just as a EU/India summit gets underway today concerning a possible free-trade agreement that would be the world's biggest ever, embracing 1.7billion people in the EU and India.