India-Germany

India-Germany

Recently, German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited India to participate in the 5th Biennial Indo-German Intergovernmental Consultations (IGC). The meeting is a platform for the exchange of views on current international issues and multilateral cooperation. India was the first country to end a state of war with Germany in 1951, and therefore was among the first countries to grant the Federal Republic of Germany diplomatic recognition.

Highlights of Recent Visit

During the official visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to India, both the nations signed pacts in various fields such as counter-terrorism, civil aviation, maritime technology and medicine, education, and agriculture. The two leaders have also spoken extensively on science and technology which is expected to spur further collaboration.

Defence: India and Germany have agreed to boost cooperation in the defence sector, with India inviting German companies to take advantage of opportunities emerging out of two defence corridors being set up in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to boost manufacturing of defence platforms in the country.

Economic: Economic growth, investments, trade, and cooperation in key industries are the highlights of the decisions taken during German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to India.

Climate Change: The German government during its visit to India has agreed to provide financial support to climate initiatives aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Stand on International Issue: In the meetings with German leaders, the government agreed to continue cooperation on reforms in the United Nations (UN) Security Council.

Importance of Germany for India

Bilateral Trade: Relations between the two countries have remained cordial through the years with Germany being India’s largest trading partner in Europe. Indian exports to Germany focus on the textile sector, followed by chemical products, electrical engineering products, metal and leather goods, and foodstuffs.

Investment: The German economy shows performance weakness due to the global slowdown. India is dealing with uneven growth and an economic slowdown. Germany is also one of the top destinations for Indian investment. Hence, it becomes imperative to evaluate the investment scenario of India in Germany and vice versa. It is certainly imperative for both to find more opportunities and step forward to tap the untapped potential between the two countries.

Terrorism: Terrorism has become a major global issue nowadays. It is of great concern for the countries to devise effective mechanisms to tackle it. In this context, India and Germany have shown their firm commitment to fight against the terrorism and supported each other in developing effective policies so as to deal with all kinds of threats posed by the terrorist groups.

NSG Membership: Germany has supported India’s membership bid in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and defended New Delhi’s move to get a separate waiver from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

G4 Grouping: India and Germany are members of G-4 along with Brazil and Japan. The G4 nations support each other’s bids for permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council. The G-4 leaders have met on several occasions, including at the level of foreign ministers, deputy foreign ministers, finance ministers, and development experts. They have also held several round tables at different levels to promote cooperation over third-world issues.

Science and Technology: Science and technology form an integral part of the bilateral strategic relations between Germany and India. Joint Indo-German scientific publications show that Germany is India’s second most important research partner worldwide, after the United States.

Renewable Energy: Solar power has become an integral alternative source of energy, which not only reduces the impact of greenhouse emissions on the environment but also helps reduce the import bills on oil and gas bills across the world. Since solar power is a clean and carbon-neutral source of renewable energy, Germany to has actively supported the growth in this sector and it is one of the largest solar power producers across the globe even though it is among the countries with the least sunshine hours in the world.

Challenges

Economic Liberalization: Economic liberalization in India has its own share of challenges. In the backdrop of its economic liberalization, India is striving hard to become a major player and reforming its domestic policies.

Kashmir Lockdown: With a lockdown in Kashmir valley, indicating the worst ever human rights situation in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Germany is concerned about the rights of minorities in India and has begun to cast a shadow over “the shared political values” (freedom and the rights of minorities) with India.  They have asked India to ensure that it isn’t participating in violating human rights and basic freedoms.

Technical Issues in Trade Regulation: While the outlook of India’s economic development has been remarkably rising, Germany is one of the national economies being affected. Since India had recently celebrated remarkable improvements in the ease of doing business, indicating its willingness to remove bureaucratic hurdles, German companies have been increasingly attracted by the new opportunities and growing consumer market in India.