NEW DELHI: The Russia-Ukraine conflict and China’s actions across the Indo-Pacific will be high on the agenda for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to India during February 25-26, German ambassador Philipp Ackermann said on Wednesday.
Scholz will be accompanied by senior officials and a high-power business delegation that will include 12 CEOs of major German firms such as Siemens and software major SAP. After holding talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Saturday, Scholz will travel to Bengaluru on Sunday.
This is Scholz’s first visit to India after becoming chancellor. It is also the first standalone visit of a German chancellor to India since the biennial inter-governmental consultation (IGC) mechanism was established in 2011.
Geopolitics and the difficult international environment will be one of the four key issues on which Scholz will engage with Modi, the others being business, climate change and mobility of skilled Indian workers, Ackermann told reporters.
“Russia and Ukraine [will be] very high on the agenda,” he said, noting that Scholz will fly into India soon after the first anniversary of the Russian invasion. “China will be very high on the agenda,” he added.
Germany sees India as an “influential and valuable partner” for discussing such issues, and the two countries also share a lot of concerns in the Indo-Pacific region that have become the focus of bilateral military cooperation, Ackermann said.
“When it comes to the China question, I will say we see with a certain concern that Russia [is becoming] more dependent on China [and] looks to China for new ways to do business,” he said, adding that there is also a “danger” that Russia will become a “junior partner of China”.
While Germany would have preferred India to vote against the Russian invasion at bodies such as the UN General Assembly and Security Council, it is the sovereign decision of any country to vote or abstain on such issues, Ackermann said. Despite such differences, Germany and India can still sit together and have an “intelligent and in-depth conversation” on the Ukraine crisis and “there is a lot of overlap in thinking”, he added.
India’s decision to continue buying oil from Russia is “none of our business”, Ackerman said in response to questions. “What we would like to see is an Indian engagement at some stage…India is a very appropriate candidate at some stage to maybe come up with some solution but I don’t think this is the time,” he said, pointing to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s lack of interest in finding a negotiated solution to the conflict.
While the German government has been encouraging companies to diversify from China to India, the firms continue to have reservations because of “some regulations and tariffs” that are preventing more businesses from coming to India, Ackermann said. There is also considerable scope to grow bilateral trade from the current level of 30 billion euros a year and several business agreements are expected to be concluded during Scholz’s visit.
Germany is also looking to India to meet its needs for skilled manpower, and Ackermann said there is a need to improve and accelerate legal migration. Germany is currently home to 35,000 Indian students and 18,000 more are set to join them. Germany has also allocated 1.3 billion euros a year to fund climate transition and green energy projects across India.
Scholz will be given a ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhawan before he and Modi hold discussions on bilateral, regional and global issues. The two leaders will also interact with CEOs and business leaders, and Scholz will call on President Droupadi Murmu.
The external affairs ministry said Scholz’s visit will enable both sides to take stock and progress on key outcomes of the last IGC, strengthen security and defence cooperation, work towards closer economic ties and enhance opportunities for the mobility of talent.