There are significant and far-reaching changes on the global strategic landscape and a lot of volatility on the global economic landscape, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday, and said these together make a very powerful case for India and the European Union and India and Germany to work much more closely with each other.
Jaishankar, who addressed a press conference with visiting German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, said India has important strategic relationships with a number of countries, and it’s in the nature of global politics or global strategy that each one of these relationships would be maintained.
“The changes we see in the world today do influence our policies and do influence the manner in which we approach other countries. We are witnessing significant and far-reaching changes on the global strategic landscape. We’re also seeing a lot of volatility on the global economic landscape and I think together they make a very powerful case for India and the European Union and India and Germany to work much more closely with each other. This is a relationship where there are considerable possibilities for fairly rapid growth,” Jaishankar said.
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“Today, our conversation was mostly devoted to the bilateral part…The minister was kind enough to assure me that Germany would also put its full weight behind the FTA negotiations with the European Union. So the bottom line answer is yes. There are big changes underway in the world. Those changes make a very compelling case for a deeper, stronger, wider India-Germany relationship,” he added.
Jaishankar said India’s relationship with Germany is “enormously important relationship” which is growing in substance and actually has a greater value “at this time of uncertainties.”
“We have important strategic relationships with a number of countries, and it’s in the nature of global politics or global strategy today that each one of these relationships would be maintained and optimised. So to me, both Germany in itself and Germany as the biggest country of the European Union are obviously central to the calculations and to the relationships that we have in the world,” he said.
“For us, this is an enormously important relationship. This relationship is growing in substance and I can see at this time of uncertainties that actually it has a greater value. It’s a very steady relationship. It is a relationship where largely what we promise to each other and policies that we have remain constant and predictable. So predictability today has a huge premium in global politics,” he added.
Jaishankar said that the bilateral trade was last year was almost 50 billion euros and the German Foreign Minister, in one of his interviews, said that he was very confident that we would be doubling the trade.
“Let me assure him that India fully reciprocates that sentiment. It looks forward to working with the German government…I want to reiterate that we remain fully committed to continuously improving the ease of doing business in this country and I assured the minister today that any concerns that German companies may have in India, coming to India, establishing themselves, working here, we would be prepared to give it special attention,” he said.
“We have just marked 50 years of our scientific collaboration. Intensifying that and linking it to industry is the task that we have set for ourselves. Our cyber and digital dialogues are also important. Minister Wadephul visited the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru and also ISRO…Space cooperation has a lot of potential and we again today agreed that it should be more aggressively explored,” he said.
Referring to consular issues, Jaishankar said he raised the issue of Ariha Shah, an Indian child who’s been in the foster care of German authorities for some time.
“I underlined to the minister that it is essential that her cultural rights are ensured and she grows up in Indian surroundings. So this matter needs to be resolved without further delay. And I think we’ve had some discussions today on that subject,” he said.
Jaishankar said India greatly value the understanding that Germany has shown with regard to India’s fight against terrorism.
“German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has himself been explicit about our right to defend our people against terrorist attacks. A parliamentary delegation that visited Germany in June after Operation Sindoor was also warmly received. There’s been an uptick in our defence and security cooperation. Germany participated in the Tarang Shakti air exercises last year, and its ships made port calls to Goa. Today, we agreed that such participation should be continued, indeed even expanded,” he said.
The External Affairs Minister said he held very productive discussion on India-Germany cooperation, on our relationship with the European Union.
Jaishankar and his German counterpart exchanged views on regional, global, and multilateral issues.
It is the first visit of Johann Wadephul to India as German Foreign Minister.
“We also did a review of the global situation, of regional issues, of multilateral. It included the Ukraine conflict, the West Asia, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific…We see the world facing the twin challenges of economic volatility and political uncertainty. We believe that a multipolar world with strategic autonomy can best respond through more intensive consultations and cooperation among key member states. It is in that spirit that I welcome Minister Johann Wadephul and his delegation today,” Jaishankar said.
