The Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Dr. Angela Merkel paid a 2-day official visit to India from October 31-November 1, 2019 at the invitation of Prime Minister(PM) Shri Narendra Modi, with the aim of boosting strategic ties with the country including key areas such as defence and security. The visit in detail are as follows:
5 JDI & 17 MoU/agreements signed at 5th Indo german Inter-Governmental Consultations in New Delhi:
17 Memorandum of Understandings(MoUs) & agreements and 5 Joint Declaration of Intent(JDI) were signed at the 5th Indo-German Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) co-chaired by PM Modi and Angela Merkel. This IGC which was held in Hyderabad House, New Delhi, was part of strengthening the relationship between the two nations in traditional sectors like transport, skill development & energy, and explore possibilities for cooperation in newer areas like green urban mobility and Artificial Intelligence(AI). The agreements are as follows,
| S.No | Joint Declaration of Intent |
| 1 | Consultations for the period 2020-2024 |
| 2 | Cooperation on Strategic Projects. |
| 3 | Indo-German Partnership for Green Urban Mobility. |
| 4 | Cooperation in Research & Development (R&D) on AI. |
| 5 | JDI regarding cooperation in the field of prevention of marine litter. |
| S.No | MoU/Agreements |
| 1 | Arrangement for exchanging personnel between Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) and German Aerospace Centre (DLR- in German). |
| 2 | Cooperation in the Field of Civil Aviation. |
| 3 | Cooperation within the International smart cities network. |
| 5 | Cooperation in the field of skill development and vocational education and training(VET). |
| 6 | Economic Cooperation in the field of Start-ups. |
| 7 | Establishing cooperation project on agricultural market development. |
| 8 | MoU in Occupational Diseases, rehabilitation and vocational training of insured persons & workers with disabilities. |
| 9 | Statement of Intent(SOI) on Indo-German Migration and mobility partnership agreement. |
| 10 | MoU between National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management MANAGE, Hyderabad, Telangana and the German Agricultural Academy DEULA in the German city of Nienburg. The cooperation is for agricultural, technical and professional training. |
| 11 | Cooperation in Inland, coastal and maritime technology. |
| 12 | Establishment of academic collaboration in Ayurveda, Yoga and Meditation. |
| 13 | Promotion and expansion of scientific and technological research cooperation |
| 14 | Extension of the partnership in higher education. |
| 15 | Cooperation between the National Museum, New Delhi; The National Gallery of Modern Art, Karnataka; The Indian Museum, Kolkata; The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and the Stiftung Humboldt Forum in Berliner Schloss Germany. |
| 16 | JDI of intent between Siemens Limited, India and MSDE(Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship) and German Ministry for economic cooperation and development on skills for sustainable growth. |
| 17 | All India Football Federation (AIFF) and Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB). |
Pact signing:
From the Indian side: The pacts were signed by Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar; Shri Vinod Kumar Yadav, Chairman of railway board from the Ministry of Railways(MoR), economic affairs and energy, Shri Durga Shankar Mishra, Secretary of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs; Ashutosh Sharma Secretary of Ministry of Science and Technology(MST).
Key highlights of the meet:
- €1 billion investment: The German Chancellor Merkel, pledged to invest €1 billion over the next five years on environmentally-friendly urban mobility in the Indian nation. Germany would invest €200 million for bus sector reforms in Tamil Nadu.
- Cooperation against terrorism: The two nations agreed to work together to combat terrorism and extremism. They held bilateral talks on regional and global issues of Afghanistan, West Asia and Korean peninsula. The two leaders also called for finalisation and adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) in March 2020.
- Trade growth: The German companies have invested nearly $12 billion in India since 2000.Bilateral trade between the two countries reached $24.06 billion in 2018-19 from $22 billion of 2017-2018. India and Germany welcomed introduction of a new German Accelerator (GA) programme “Next Step India”, which could lead to a full GA programme for German Startups in India.
- AIFF & DFB Pact: The MoU between AIFF & DFB was to provide training to the Indian football in areas such as coach education, professional referees deployment to India, exchange between national teams etc.
- Meet with business delegations: During the visit, Merkel met top executives of major Indian companies, active in Germany and she also visited the Continental Automotive Components India Pvt Ltd in Manesar, Gurgaon, Haryana.
- The two nations are to set up “Digital Experts Group” to identify areas for mutual cooperation and to provide innovations in future policy initiatives. They also agreed to create German Platform Industrie 4.0 and the upcoming 5th Confederation of Indian Industry(CII) Smart Manufacturing Platform for shaping the future digital eco systems.
- Partnership on skills Agenda: Citizens from both the nations will be trained in innovative and sustainable sectors such as renewable energy, e-mobility and energy-efficiency.
- Call of Ladakh stole & pen gifted: PM Modi gifted Angela Merkel handloom woollen Khadi stole, named “Call of Ladakh” from Ladakh and also gifted her a Ratnam pen. The Ratnam pen is named after KV Ratnam, (well known pen producers of KV Ratnam and Sons – Ratnam Ball Pen Works,in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh) made iconic by Mahatma Gandhi.
- German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday met five women namely Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi and Supreme Court (SC) lawyer Karuna Nundy, YourStory founder Shradha Sharma Brookings India director of research Shamika Ravi and Natasha Zarine as part of her visit.
- The last time the German Chancellor met PM Modi was during the G20 summit that was held in Osaka, Japan, in June 2019.
About Germany:
- Capital- Berlin.
- Currency- Euro.
- President- Frank-Walter Steinmeier.