PM Modi to seek further German investments

Germany, seen as the economic powerhouse of the European Union, is not only India’s largest trade partner in the bloc, but also a strategic ally.
PM Modi lands in Germany (Twitter : PMO India)
PM Modi lands in Germany (Twitter : PMO India)

NEW DELHI: Trade and China were set to figure high on the agenda during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s working dinner with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Friday.

Modi’s brief stopover in Germany after his trip to Sweden and the UK follows an invitation by Merkel, who began her fourth term as chancellor last month.

Germany, seen as the economic powerhouse of the European Union, is not only India’s largest trade partner in the bloc, but also a strategic ally.

Modi is expected to seek further German investment in infrastructure, renewable energy projects, skills development, water management and agriculture in India.

Trade–estimated at $18.76 billion in 2016-17, with India exporting $7.18 billion worth of goods to Germany while importing German products worth $11.58 billion– has been on the rise. A study conducted by Bertelsmann Foundation, CII and Ernst and Young in 2016 showed that some 80 Indian companies in Germany generated revenues of $14 billion that year. Germany is also keen to speed up talks on a free trade agreement with India, which would give a further impetus to the economic relationship.

But this pales before Germany’s trade with China, which rose to $230 billion last year, up from 170.2 billion in 2016, according to figures from the Federal Statistics Office. However, German businesses have expressed concern over getting caught in the crossfire of a US-China trade war.

Diplomatic sources in Delhi said that Germany was interested in India-China relations due to fears that any major skirmish between the two Asian giants would affect not just the region but the world. “So obviously, they are keen to know from both sides about whether there is cause to fear escalation of the differences between the two nations,” said one source.

Modi returns to India early on Saturday.

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