With our Strategic Partnership, our academic cooperation and our cultural agreement dating back 25, 50 and almost 60 years respectively, India is a strategic partner for Germany across the board in the Indo-Pacific and plays a crucial role in the system of global partnerships. We want to further deepen our relations across the entire spectrum and to strengthen them in particular in areas where potential has not yet been met. This is in our two countries’ mutual interest.

India is a rising and rapidly developing economic powerhouse and already a very promising global technology hub. It offers German companies great opportunities in terms of innovation, trade and supply-chain diversification. India is a key partner for us worldwide as regards giving our economy a broader focus and making it more stable. This dynamism, which makes India so innovative, is exactly what I want to see for myself in Bangalore, in the heart of India, where I also want to explore even greater opportunities for cooperation. In order to take our economic relations to the next level, we should now conclude the planned EU‑India Free Trade Agreement as soon as possible. Germany is striving to achieve this.

Economic relations can only expand when you have people who play a part in this. Attracting skilled workers will be one of the main topics of my talks in Delhi. Indian nationals form the largest group of international students in Germany and provide vital support to our economy as skilled workers who are much in demand. We want to expand this “perfect match” and to strengthen the structures needed to do so, from issuing visas faster to providing the right kind of language training.

It is also in our mutual interest to expand security, defence and arms cooperation between Germany and India, as security in the Indo-Pacific and Europe are closely interconnected. Europe and India hold similar views on the rules-based international order. As democracies and thus natural partners, we want to preserve this order, which faces huge geopolitical challenges. Continued exchange on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine is crucial, as this war poses the greatest threat to Europe’s security. We will also discuss China’s increasingly aggressive stance in the Indo-Pacific.

The fact that India’s voice is heard far beyond the strategically important Indo-Pacific region and that India plays a crucial role in shaping our century’s international order is shown by the sheer numbers: over 1.4 billion people live in India, the world’s most populous country. They represent almost a sixth of the world’s population and, like us, face the most pressing tasks of our times.

Germany and India have set themselves the goal of expanding and strengthening their mutual relations. This is a partnership based on mutual trust and reliability.