German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is on a high-level bilateral visit to India and met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Friday. Both Leaders are co-chairing the 7th edition of Intergovernmental Consultations (IGC) between India and Germany.
Scholz met Modi on Friday morning at the Indian prime minister’s official residence.
“In this world we need friends and allies — just like India and Germany,” the German leader said on social media platform X.
Scholz arrived in New Delhi on Thursday just before midnight with several senior ministers of his cabinet for the high-level talks — a framework established by the two countries in 2011.
He was received by India’s Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai.
“Herzlich willkommen in Neu Delhi! (Welcome to New Delhi),” the spokesperson for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal, wrote in German on X as he shared pictures of the Chancellor’s ceremonial arrival.
This is Scholz’s third visit to India since he became Chancellor in 2021.
In 2023, he visited India twice — for a bilateral state visit in February and to attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit later in September.
What is the schedule?
On Friday, Scholz and Modi inaugurated the 18th Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business (APK) in New Delhi as the key conference coincides with the consultations.
“Our overall message is clear: we need more cooperation not less,” Scholz said at the conference.
German Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck is co-chairing the APK.
After the talks, Scholz is slated to travel to the western Indian state of Goa where the German naval frigate “Baden-Württemberg” and combat support ship “Frankfurt am Main” will make a pre-scheduled port call as part of Germany’s Indo-Pacific deployment, the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement earlier this week.
What did Olaf Scholz say in New Delhi?
“The visit of a German frigate to India as well as to Japan, Korea and South East Asian countries underlines our commitment to open seas and international law,” Scholz said on Friday.
“At our Intergovernmental Consultations with India we also want to deepen our cooperation on defense and agree to bring our militaries closer together,” he added.
Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems is vying for a mammoth six-submarine deal with the Indian Navy but Spanish company Navantia is also a competitor.
Scholz also pushed for negotiations between the EU and India for a free trade agreement to be accelerated and called for “swift progress and a rapid conclusion” to the talks, which began back in 2007.
“I am sure that if we work on this together, prime minister, this could happen in months rather than years,” he said on Friday, addressing India’s Narendra Modi.
“This is the 25th year of the India-Germany strategic partnership. The upcoming 25 years will take this partnership to new heights,” Modi said at the event.
“On the one hand, CEOs and firms are meeting and on the other hand, our navies are holding an exercise together. German naval ships are on a port call in Goa and in a little while from now the 7th Intergovernmental Consultations between India and Germany will begin. This means that at every step, at every front, the friendship between India and Germany is deepening,” he said.
What are the Intergovernmental Consultations?
The IGC — which lasts two days — will see ministers from both sides holding discussions in their respective areas. They will then report the outcome of their talks with Scholz and Modi.
The dialogue also comes at a crucial juncture for both Berlin and New Delhi as Germany looks to court India as a key strategic partner.
Last week, Germany adopted the “Focus on India” paper, indicating that it wants to deepen its relationship with India.
Experts in India say that the consultations are significant in light of how ties between India and Germany have transformed in the last few years.
“We have seen a dramatic strategic convergence and changes within Germany, about Germany wanting to play a larger role in the Indo-Pacific and wanting to have more forward-looking partnerships with countries like India,” Harsh V. Pant, vice president of studies and foreign policy at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, told DW.
“That has made a lot of difference to the texture of the relationship which used to be primarily focused on economics but now it has become more strategic. These consultations are important in terms of the direction that they would provide for the future of this relationship,” he added.
Ramping up ties on the economy, climate and security and tapping into India’s young talent are expected to rank high on the agenda.
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