Recently German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s met with visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday.

India and Germany agreed on a vision statement to enhance cooperation on innovation and technology.

Both leaders discussed progress on Green and Sustainable Development Partnership (GSDP), which India and Germany had launched during Modi’s visit to Berlin for the 6th IGC.

India and Germany also agreed to cooperate on Green Hydrogen. The Indo-German Green Hydrogen Task Force was constituted in September 2022 and an Action Plan is close to finalisation.

LEARNING FROM HOME/ WITHOUT CLASSES/ BASICS

Bilateral relations between India and Germany are founded on common democratic principles and are marked by a high degree of trust and mutual respect. India and Germany have a “Strategic Partnership” since 2001, which has been further strengthened with the Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) at the level of Head of Governments (German Chancellor and Prime Minister) which allows for a comprehensive review of Cooperation and identification of new areas of engagement, including some of the new and emerging areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Space, Smart Cities, Urban Green Mobility etc.

The Partnership for Green and Sustainable Development, which was signed by Federal Chancellor Scholz and Indian Prime Minister Modi on 2 May 2022.

It is India’s largest trading partner in Europe and the seventh-largest global trading partner with a total trade of US$ 21 bn in 2020-21. Germany is also the 7th largest FDI source for India. German investments in India have been mainly in sectors of transportation, electrical equipment, metallurgical industries, services sector (particularly insurance), chemicals, construction activity, trading, and automobiles. Germany is the ninth largest investor in India, with cumulative foreign direct investment inflows of $13.8 billion from April 2000 to September 2022.

In December 2022, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also travelled to India, where she signed a mobility partnership pact to make it easier for people to study and work in each other’s country.

India is amongst the countries with the most Goethe Institutes, called “Max Mueller Bhavan” institutes on the subcontinent in honour of the German Indologist. Over 18,000 people take part each year in German language courses in the six institutes in New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai and Pune.

CONVERGENCE

Both countries are committed to multilateralism and seek to reform the United Nations (UN) under G-4 initiatives and its Security Council. They both also advocate for a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific.

Both countries also consult each other and coordinate positions in multilateral fora including G-20 and the UN on global issues such as climate change, sustainable development, etc. There have been consultations between the two countries on regional and international issues such as UN issues, International Cyber Issues, Disarmament & Non-proliferation, Export Control, East Asia, Eurasia, Africa, etc.