Why in news?

• The Chancellor of Germany, Mr. Olaf Scholz, is on a two-day State visit to India.
• This is the Chancellor Scholz’s first visit to India in his current role.
  • This is also the first standalone visit of a German Chancellor to India since the biennial Inter-Governmental Consultation (IGC) mechanism commenced in 2011.
  • IGC is a whole-of-government framework under which Ministers from both countries hold discussions in their respective areas of responsibility and report on the outcome of discussions to the Prime Minister and Chancellor.

What’s in today’s article?

• India – Germany Bilateral Relation
• News Summary

India-Germany Bilateral Relations: Background

• Germany is one of India’s most important partners in Europe, owing to the strength of bilateral relations, as also Germany’s key role in the EU.
• India and Germany have a 'Strategic Partnership' since May 2000.
• This has been further strengthened with the launch of Intergovernmental Consultations (IGC) in 2011 at the level of Heads of Government.
• On March 7, 2021, India and Germany marked the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
  • As part of the celebrations, commemorative stamps were issued by both countries.

Economic & Commercial Relations:

• Germany is India’s largest trading partner in Europe and has consistently been among India’s top (10-12) global partners.
  • Germany was the 11th largest trading partner in FY 2021-22 (12th during FY 2022-23 up to August 2022).
• Bilateral trade in 2021-22 was USD 24.85 billion registering an increase of 14.2% over FY 2020-21.
  • Indian exports during this period increased by 21.6% reaching USD 9.88 billion and Indian imports increased by 9.7% to USD 14.97 billion.
• Germany is the 9th largest FDI source for India. The total FDI from Germany to India from April 2000-June 2022 is over USD 13 billion.
  • Indian investments in Germany continue to grow, having surpassed the figure of USD 7 billion.

Development Cooperation

• Germany has committed a total volume of new funding of USD 1,368.02 million for 2021 for Financial & Technical Cooperation.
• Energy, sustainable economic and urban development, environment & management of natural resources are priority areas.

Security & Defence

• The MoU on Security Cooperation signed at the 3rd IGC held in Delhi in 2015 defines collaboration in this field.
• There are dialogue mechanisms on various aspects of security, including:
  • Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism;
  • Cyber Consultations;
  • Joint Steering Group on Disaster Management in Berlin (2016).

Science & Technology

• Bilateral Science and Technology cooperation is implemented under an Inter-Governmental Agreement on ‘Cooperation in Scientific Research and Technological Development’.
• The jointly funded Indo-German Science and Technology Centre (IGSTC) was set up in Gurgaon in September 2008.

Sister State/City Arrangements:

• The States of Karnataka and Bavaria, Maharashtra and Baden Wuerttemberg, and the cities of Mumbai and Stuttgart have twinning arrangements.
  • Twin city relations between Coimbatore and Esslingen were established in 2016.

Education

• There are approximately 29,000 (2020) Indian students who are studying in Germany, a number which is rising each year.
  • Around 800 German students are studying or doing internships in India.
• Instruments of faculty exchange and student mobility between India and Germany are:
  • Visiting Advanced Joint Research (VAJRA) from DST and Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC) from MoE
  • New Passage to India (from the German side).

News Summary

• The visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Key outcomes of the bilateral meeting between PM Modi and Chancellor Olaf Scholz

• India-Germany agreed on a vision statement to Enhance Cooperation in Innovation & Technology
  • Under the framework of the Inter-Governmental Agreement on ‘Cooperation in Scientific Research and Technological Development’, the two countries share a long history of cooperation in science and technology, research and innovation.
    • This agreement was signed in May 1974.
• Green and Sustainable Development Partnership (GSDP)
• The leaders discussed progress on GSDP - an umbrella partnership that provides political guidance and steer to robust ties in climate action and SDGs.
• Under this, Germany will also place €10 billion in new and additional commitments under their development cooperation portfolio in India.
• Cooperation in Green Hydrogen
  • The Indo-German Green Hydrogen Task Force was constituted in September 2022 and an Action Plan is close to finalisation.
• Triangular Development Cooperation
  • India and Germany agreed to work on development projects in third countries.
  • The four projects, announced in May 2022, are now in different stages of implementation:
    • Cameroon: Potato Seed Production through Rooted Apical Cuttings (RAC) Technology.
    • Malawi: Agri Business Incubator Models for Women in Agriculture & Food Systems
    • Ghana: Developing Bamboo-Based Enterprises for Sustainable Livelihood and Income Generation
    • Peru: Development of a geospatial portal prototype for planning, monitoring, and evaluation of the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion of Peru (MIDIS) interventions and social programs.
• Other agreements
• Both sides concluded agreements on “Digital Transformation, FinTech, IT, Telecom and Supply chains’ diversification”.
• The issue of Khalistani separatism and extremism also figured during discussions.
  • India has earlier pointed to the presence of pro-Khalistan groups and elements in Germany.
  • And New Delhi is concerned at the recent turn of events in Punjab as well.