German Chancellor Olaf Scholz heads to New Delhi for intergovernmental consultations

New Delhi: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will arrive in New Delhi Thursday night for the 7th Intergovernmental Consultations (IGC) that will take place on Friday under the motto 'Growing Together with Innovation, Mobility and Sustainability'.

Scholz, who had visited India twice last year for a bilateral State Visit in February 2023 and to attend the G20 Leaders' Summit in September 2023, will be accompanied by senior ministers in his cabinet during the October 24-26 visit and will also travel to Goa.

On Friday, the German Chancellor will call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his Lok Kalyan Marg residence, following which both leaders will inaugurate and address the 18th Asia Pacific Conference of German Business (APK 2024) that will see participation of around 650 top business leaders and CEOs from Germany, India, and other countries.

The biennial event for business leaders, executives, and political representatives from Germany and the countries in the Indo-Pacific is expected to give a further fillip to trade and investment ties between our two countries.

After that, there will be a joint plenary session of all participants in the government consultations chaired by the heads of government. The IGC is a whole-of-government framework under which ministers from both sides hold discussions in their respective areas of responsibility and report on the outcome of their deliberations to the Prime Minister and Chancellor.

"Both leaders will hold bilateral talks to discuss enhanced security and defence cooperation, greater opportunities for mobility of talent, deeper economic cooperation, Green and Sustainable Development Partnership and collaboration in the area of emerging and strategic technologies. Discussions will also focus on important regional and global developments," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) detailed, earlier this week.

The German Chancellor will then travel to Goa on Saturday where the German naval frigate 'Baden-Wuerttemberg' and combat support ship 'Frankfurt am Main' are making a scheduled port call as part of Germany's Indo-Pacific deployment.

"India and Germany have had a strategic partnership since 2000. Over the years, this partnership has deepened and diversified across various sectors. The two countries are celebrating 50 years of Science and Technology collaboration this year. As we enter the 25th year of strategic partnership, the visit of Chancellor Scholz will pave the way for further strengthening of our bilateral ties," the MEA stated.

During his 2023 visits, Scholz was quite impressed by India as a high-tech nation with great expertise in digitalisation and software development.

"We want to and must take advantage of the potential that exists here, which, among other things, will help us to boost the resilience of our own economy," he said following his business meetings in Bangalore.

He has also emphasised Germany's great interest in collaborating with India in other economic sectors such as renewable energies, wind power, solar energy, and biomass.