German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks on her India visit

“We believe that India’s experience in digitization will help us”. Earlier in April, Modi had visited Merkel seeking support for the “Make in India” campaign to transform India as a manufacturing hub. These agreements were signed in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in New Delhi. India has consistently been pitching for any such agreement in future that must recognize all these elements under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Germany will provide India with 1 billion euros, each, for India’s Green Energy Corridor project and country-wide solar projects.

India and Germany pledged on Monday to revive efforts to reach an Indo-European free trade pact after talks were derailed by a ban on Indian generic drugs, and struck deals to promote clean energy and make it easier to do business.

This marks an end to the controversy which had erupted about a year after KVs chose to stop teaching German as third language and replaced it with Sanskrit. Similarly Mmodern Indian languages including Sanskrit will also be taught in Germany.

Foreign secretary S Jaishankar said Germany appreciated that the “business climate improved” after Modi took over.

Modi also expressed his gratitude for the return of the 10th century statue of Durga in her Mahishasurmardini avatar. She also listed various initiatives by the two countries including in the fields of defence, security, trade and investment and solar energy.

Akey step is Germany’s active support for India’s accession to export control regimes on chemical and biological weapons, conventional arms and dual-use technology, missile technology and nuclear supplies.

The European Union has been maintaining that it was ready to show flexibility on all major issues that have stalled the talks as the FTA will be a “win-win deal” for both the sides.

Both sides agreed on partnership in skill development, railways, manufacturing, river cleaning, aviation security, higher education, disaster management and agricultural studies, according to The Hindu.

A separate MoU on security cooperation proposes to intensify cooperation in countering terrorism in all its form, including recruitment, financing, terrorist propaganda, training and terrorists movements.

“If as many asylum seekers continue to come to Germany as in recent weeks, we won’t have any choice but to temporarily stop taking people in and to close the borders to them”, CSU politician Stephan Mayer told newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS).

Modi said that Germany was a “natural partner” for India at the time of its economic transformation.