- German Chancellor Merz visits India to strengthen economic and defense ties with PM Modi
- Agreements focus on semiconductors, critical minerals, defense projects, and healthcare mobility
- Visit aims to boost EU-India trade, pharma collaboration, and business partnerships
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's visit to India was his first and with this he aimed to develop relations between the two countries economically as well as militarily. Thus, Germany was able to strengthen its position with the Asian market when it faced the US and China conflicts.
Along with two leaders, Merz talked with Prime Minister Modi in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, about cooperative ventures. There are around ten treaties expected to be signed, showing Germany's strategic interest in India as a major Indo-Pacific partner.
The visit happened at a time when the global geopolitics were changing, including US trade pressures and Berlin's decision to shift its supply chains away from China.
Germany is looking to secure better access to critical minerals from India where it plans to initiate several projects, other than the one around Atom's potential $8 billion deal on the manufacture of submarines, this includes the transfer of technology and it would also help India to cut down on the import of military equipment from Russia which would be around one of New Delhi's largest defense contracts.
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In addition to economics and defense, the two countries are also looking at the possibility of introducing Indian health care professionals to Germany more easily, which would help solve the problem of labor shortages in essential sectors.
Merz not only visited Sabarmati Ashram but also attended a local kite festival with Modi, thereby showing the cultural and historic ties of friendship between the two countries.
Merz is not alone; he is with top officials from huge German companies like Siemens, DHL, Infineon, Uniper, Airbus Defense, and also some industrial SMEs that are the backbone of Germany.
One of the purposes of the visit is to fast-track the negotiations for an EU-India free trade agreement and to collaborate in the area of pharmaceuticals, which is part of a grand effort to strengthen the ties among the three categories of strategy, industry, and people. With the trade between the two countries nearly reaching $50 billion, Germany has continued to be India’s most important EU partner.