INTRODUCTION
India & Germany’s bilateral ties can be typified as one characterized by paramount levels of trust & mutual respect towards each other. Post the World War-2, India was amongst the first and foremost countries to establish formal diplomatic ties with the German Republic. In the last ten years, economic and political collusion between India & Germany has substantially increased. As of today, Germany stands as one of India’s most vital partners in the global dimension.
Further, almost 2 Lakh Indians & Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) reside in Germany. They serve the German country by bestowing the best of their business abilities, contributing immensely in business, trade, technology, banking & finance, IT etc. In addition to this, almost 20 thousand Indian students pursue professional and other university courses at Germany.
In this article, Team YLCC brings you a detailed overview on India-Germany relations in 2022 across multiple areas of cooperation. Read on!
BILATERAL RELATIONS
India-German relations have been strong, and the biggest testament to the fact is that the pair entered into a “Strategic Partnership”, over 2 decades ago. This partnership was further strengthened by way of constitution of several Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC), at the highest levels of government, involving interactions between the German Chancellor as well as the Indian Prime Minister. India stands in distinction as one of the select-few countries, which has held highest-level consultations. In the 5th Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) (2019), Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) were signed in several pertinent areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Space & Allied Activities, Development of Smart Cities, Green Mobility, etc.
Further, the leaders of both the countries hold visits, with a high-level important business delegation recently having visited on 1st November, 2019, in Delhi in order to discuss trade and commerce. On March 7, 2021, India and Germany marked the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. The anniversary was commemorated by way of several events held between 2021-22. As part of the celebrations, commemorative stamps were issued by both countries on June 10, 2021.
PM and present German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke on the phone for the first time after the new Federal Government in Germany was formed on January 5, 2022. During the conversation, they discussed the potential of ongoing cooperation initiatives, including for promoting investment and trade links, and they also agreed on the potential for further diversifying cooperation and exchanges in new areas. On October 31, 2021, the two presidents had previously spoken outside of the G20 Summit in Rome. Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, the PM and the German Chancellor maintained regular correspondence through and by way of letters and phone calls.
Further, in the recent past, the External Affairs Minister attended the Munich Security Conference from February 18-20, 2022, interacting with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, by way of a telephone call on February 26, 2022.
AREAS OF COOPERATION
The Foreign Office Consultations, High Defence Committee, Indo-German Energy Forum, Indo-German Environment Forum, S&T Committee, and Joint Working Groups in various fields have been worked out, such as the areas of skill development, automotive, agriculture, tourism, water and waste management, constitute just a few institutionalized arrangements between India and Germany to discuss bilateral and global issues of interest. In order to help important stakeholders better understand one another’s perspectives on national, regional, and strategic objectives in both the countries, a Track 1.5 Strategic Dialogue has been developed between India and Germany.
Both nations consult one another and coordinate stances on international problems like climate change and sustainable development in multilateral fora like the G-20 and the UN. The two nations have held discussions on a range of topics, including UN concerns, global cyber issues, disarmament and non-proliferation, export restrictions, Asia, and Africa.
Multilateral Cooperation: Within the G-4 framework, Germany and India support one another’s positions on the extension of the UNSC. The G4’s final gathering took place in September 2021 at the level of foreign ministers, concurrent with the 76th UNGA. Germany participated in the inaugural Governing Council meeting in March 2020 after joining the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) in February 2020.
The International Solar Alliance (ISA) modified framework agreement and Germany’s entry into the ISA were both approved by the German Federal Cabinet in April 2021. Former Parliamentary State Secretaries from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development presented the Instrument of Accession to Secretary (Economic Relations), MEA, on September 10, 2021, during their visit to Delhi.
Defence Cooperation: The Arrangement on Implementation of the Agreement of 2006 concerning ‘Bilateral Defense Cooperation’was signed in February 2019 in order to strengthen the defence industry as well as defence cooperation between Germany and India. Various High Defence Committee (HDC) meetings at the level of the Defense Secretary, the Military Cooperation Sub-Group Meeting, and the Defence Technical Sub-Group Committee Meeting are among the defence communication platforms, routine for both the countries.
On January 12, 2021, the Defense Secretary and State Secretary conducted their tenth HDC meeting via video-conference. The Military Co-operation Sub-Group met twice, once on December 13–14, 2021 in New Delhi and once on January 30, 2020 in Berlin. Further, there have been high-level defence visits between both nations.
Economic & Commercial Relations: India’s top trading partner in Europe is Germany. It has constantly been one among India’s top ten international trading partners, ranking seventh in FY 2020–21. (12th during FY 2021-22 up to December 2021). The value of bilateral trade between India & Germany in 2020–21 was USD 21.76 billion, a slight decrease of around 1% from FY 2019–20. Indian imports fell by 0.35% to USD 13.64 billion during this time, while exports fell by 2% to USD 8.12 billion. Bilateral trade reached USD 17.60 billion in FY 2021–22 (through December 2021), up 12.7% from the same period in FY 2020–21. India’s exports, which totaled USD 7.02 billion during this time, increased by around 24.65%, and its imports, which were USD 10.58 billion, increased by 5.96%.
Further, the seventh-largest source of FDI for India is Germany. Over USD 13 billion in Foreign Direct Investment was received from Germany to India between April 2000 and December 2021. German Foreign Direct Investment in India totaled USD 667 million in Financial Year 2020–21. German Foreign Direct Investment in the period 2021–2022 (till December 2021) was USD 581.65 million. Further, over 1,700 German enterprises and business entities operate in India, according to the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce. German investments in India have primarily been made in the domains of transportation, electrical equipment, metalworking, services, chemical, building, commerce, and automobile sectors.
Cultural Relations: On a lighter note, various Indian & German states have entered into “Sister-State/City Arrangements”, wherein two states try to establish close relations by entering informal cooperation agreements, setting-up representative offices, etc. Such arrangements have been entered between the states of Karnataka vis-à-vis Bavaria, Maharashtra & Baden Wuerttemberg, in Germany, as well as between Coimbatore and Esslingen, thus strengthening the cultural ties between the two countries, and deepening an immeasurable bond.
The rich legacy of the Indian literature also finds an audience in the German republic, with various academicians studying renowned texts of Indian literature. Further, there are various German language aficionados in India, propelling the need for setting up German language training institutions across India. Both countries also share interest in the domains of film and cinema, among other cultural fields. Thus, it can be ascertained that both countries share a holistic and cooperative relation with each other in various aspects.
CONCLUSION
Thus, it can be validly concluded that India & Germany share traditionally and historically close relations with each other, and boast of friendly relations with each other. Due to concurrence between the two countries on a myriad of regional and global issues, the countries share a high degree of convergence of thoughts, ideas, and beliefs shared by very few countries. Between the two countries, exists vibrant bilateral bonds of cultural and educational linkages coupled with a growing people-to-people connect. Thus, every step must be taken in order to strengthen the relationship further, as good relations with Germany will be of immense strategic benefit to India as a whole. The future shall remain testament to the growing vistas of friendship and cooperation between the two countries.
YLCC would like to thank its Content Team for their valuable insights in this article.
