German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are co-chairing the 7th edition of Intergovernmental Consultations (IGC) between India and Germany in New Delhi. Scholz arrived in New Delhi on Thursday just before midnight with several senior ministers of his cabinet for the high-level talks — a framework established by the two countries in 2011.
India, Germany 7th Intergovernmental Consultations
Why In News
- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are co-chairing the 7th edition of Intergovernmental Consultations (IGC) between India and Germany in New Delhi. Scholz arrived in New Delhi on Thursday just before midnight with several senior ministers of his cabinet for the high-level talks — a framework established by the two countries in 2011.
- He was received by India’s Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai.
- “Herzlich willkommen in Neu Delhi! (Welcome to New Delhi),” the spokesperson for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal, wrote in German on X as he shared pictures of the Chancellor’s ceremonial welcome. This is Scholz’s third visit to India since he became Chancellor in 2021.
- In 2023, he visited India twice — for a bilateral state visit in February and to attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit later in September.
What Are The Intergovernmental Consultations
- The biennial IGC format was launched in 2011 and allows for a comprehensive review of cooperation and identification of new areas of engagement at the Cabinet level. India is among a select group of countries with which Germany has such a mechanism, as per the statement.
- The IGC is a unique mechanism that India has with Germany. Under the IGC mechanism, the Plenary co-chaired by PM Modi and Scholz is preceded by a meeting of focused verticals of Ministers from both sides, the statement said.
- The 7th IGC is expected to have a strong technology focus with the key elements being sustainability and green transition, migration and mobility, and technology and innovation.
- Increased collaboration in new and emerging technologies is also expected, building on the India-Germany Vision Document released by Chancellor and PM Modi during the former’s State visit to India in 2023. In addition, the focus will also be on enhancing defence and security cooperation.
- As per the statement, this year, India and Germany are also celebrating the 50 years of Science and Technology Cooperation. Under this cooperation, both sides have taken up projects in several areas of global and emerging importance like space research, AI, sustainability, earth and environment sciences and advanced materials.
- At the 6th IGC held in Berlin on 02 May 2022, India and Germany signed many agreements focusing on green and sustainable development, green hydrogen, solar/renewable energy, agroecology, forest landscape restoration, etc.
- The most significant outcome was the signing of the Green and Sustainable Development Partnership. Under this partnership, German side has committed to provide new and additional funding of 10 billion Euros to India to achieve Paris Climate Goals and SDGs.
India – Germany
- In the run-up to the IGC, German government has released two important India-centric documents. A dedicated India strategy titled ‘Focus on India’. This is the first such strategy that German government has announced on India and it expresses the desire of the Federal Government to improve relations with India with the consensus of all Ministries and Departments.
- German side has also announced a Skilled Labour strategy centered towards India recently which aims at improving mobility of skilled workforce from India to Germany to address the severe shortage of workforce in Germany.
- This is the first country-specific strategy that Germany has unveiled in this regard. Germany is one of India’s most important partners in the EU. Diplomatic relations were established between the two countries in 1951 and Germany and India have been Strategic Partners since 2000.
- Both countries have a shared interest in upholding democratic values, the rules-based international order, and multilateralism as well as the reform of multilateral institutions.
