India is boosting its European ties, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz set to visit New Delhi soon. This engagement follows President Putin’s visit and precedes the India-EU summit. Discussions will focus on trade, technology, and sustainable development, building on existing partnerships. Germany’s support for Ukraine and shared concerns over the Indo-Pacific will also be key topics.
NEW DELHI: After hosting Russian President Vladimir Putin, India is stepping up its engagement with Europe that has rallied behind Ukraine amid US-led efforts to end the war. Ahead of the India-EU summit scheduled for Jan 27, India will host German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for his first visit to the country after assuming office.Merz is expected to visit India in the third week of Jan for a summit with PM Narendra Modi. The visit will be an important opportunity for the leaders to review progress and build upon the momentum in the relationship across areas like trade, technology, innovation, migration and mobility, green and sustainable development, along with defence and security. The leaders had earlier met on the margins of the G7 summit in Canada where they agreed to diversify the strategic partnership and Modi thanked Merz for backing India’s actions in the fight against terrorism. He had also then invited Merz to visit India.Germany is also a key partner for India in maintaining a rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific, as Berlin sees China’s increasingly aggressive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific as a cause of concern for both countries. As Europe’s leading economic power, Germany has been relentless in its support for Ukraine. Merz was quoted as saying this week that European support for Ukraine will remain strong “because we all know the destiny of this country is the destiny of Europe. ” Germany, however, has avoided hectoring India on the latter’s Russia ties even though it believes Indo-Pacific security is closely linked to security in Europe.With the India-EU summit set to take place next month, and important outcomes like an FTA and security partnership being worked upon, the Europeans had been worried outcomes of the Modi-Putin meeting could create misunderstandings between the two sides. It was reassuring for them eventually that the focus during Putin’s visit, as the Indian side repeatedly stressed, was mostly on economic cooperation. On the bilateral front, India and Germany held the latest round of talks on development cooperation, reaffirming their partnership under the Green and Sustainable Development Partnership.
