Indo-German Strategic relationship
Indo-German Strategic relationship
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India is a democratic republic which gained it’s independence in the year 1947 after a prolonged period of British rule. After the formation of government and constitutional framework, India devised it’s foreign policy based on panchsheel.
India has maintained diplomatic and strategic relationships with both west Germany and east Germany and supported their unification in 1990s.Germany and India are key partners and cooperate on issues such as climate change, international terrorism, striving to establish a sustainable global economic order and advance the necessary reform of the United Nations. Infact India is one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relationship with the Republic of Germany.
India has one of the fastest growing economies and by 2027 will likely be the third largest economy in the world. Germany is India’s prime trading partner in the EU and thus also one of its key trading partners worldwide.
The recent visit of Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of Republic of Germany is a seen as step ahead in strengthening diplomatic ties with India. As per the official statement released by Foreign secretary, Sri Vikram Misri, the visit is a multi part visit centred around three distinct elements which includes intergovernmental consultation, address by both leaders to Asia Pacific conference of German business and the planned visit of German chancellor to Goa, where he will visit two German naval ships that will be making a port call there after having undertaken exercises with the Indian Navy in the last few days
The year 2024 marked the golden jubilee year of indo- german science and technology collaboration, followed by the silver jubilee year in 2025 of indo- german strategic partnerships.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, currently visiting India, emphasized the need for collective global efforts to resolve major international conflicts, including the Russia-Ukraine war and the ongoing crisis in West Asia, in accordance with international law and the principles of the UN Charter. During their bilateral talk the indo-german relationship was viewed on various dimensions including foreign policy, economy, commerce, green sustainable development cooperation and critical emerging technologies in the field of science. “Our overall message is clear: we need more cooperation not less,” Scholz said at the conference.
Relations between India and Germany have been in great shape in recent years.We share a bilateral trade of 33 billion dollars in 2023 and cumulative German investments in India amount to nearly 15 billion dollars. The indo- german relationship was also accessed on the grounds of security domain and counter terrorism cooperation. The countries signed a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty in Criminal Matters and the Agreement on the Exchange and Mutual Protection of Classified Information to promote closer collaboration in combating crime and terrorism and help speedy investigation and prosecution of criminals.
Both the countries have experienced increased interaction and exchange between the armed forces, joint naval exercises have been held frequently and the German chancellor will be visiting German deployed ships in Goa as part of Germany’s Indo-Pacific deployment, two German ships, Frigate, Baden- Wurttemberg and a supply ship, Frankfurt am Main, as they are making port calls.
“In this world we need friends and allies — just like India and Germany,” the German leader said on social media platform X.
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.
“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. True to life talked with an M.tech student studying in German university of Stuttgart who mentioned that as long as the home country has favourable ties with the country we Indians reside in, we feel at peace and various strategic ties including provision of job opportunities to Indians students in Germany ensures a bright future for us here and makes us feel at home away from home.
The German population has the highest number of Indian students counting to almost a million in number and as such the string bilateral relationship between the two countries ensures a welfare of Indian citizens in Germany. Last week, Germany adopted the “Focus on India” paper, indicating that it wants to deepen its relationship with India. Germany focus of India’s young talent came as welcome move and it is expected to provide huge job opportunities to Indians in Germany multinationals and industry and trade, proving beneficial for India’s foreign reserves through remittances. Overall the strategic partnership between the two countries while India is on it’s way ahead to become the third largest economy by 2027 will prove as a boon to both the countries on economic, security and tech front promoting inclusive development.