Germany and India at 75: Significance of Chancellor Merz’s Delhi visit – Firstpost

Seventy-five years ago, in 1951, India established diplomatic relations with the newly formed Federal Republic of Germany. It was among the first group of nations to recognise Germany post-World War II. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s upcoming visit to India and his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other top dignitaries are likely to enhance the bilateral relationship to greater heights within the ambit of a strategic partnership encompassing multiple levels of economic cooperation, technology, and jointly addressing issues of common interest such as climate change, trade and investment, defence cooperation, cultural exchange, the bid for UNSC permanent membership along with Brazil and Japan as part of the G-4, Indo-Pacific maritime security, etc.

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Trade and Economy

Germany is India’s largest trading partner within the EU. Total bilateral trade in the 2024 calendar year stood at $33.40 billion, a record high, with Germany exporting $18.31 billion and India exporting $15.9 billion. Germany has been a key partner for India, particularly in areas such as services and machinery, organic chemicals, electrical equipment, textiles and apparel. German exports such as aircraft spare parts, motor vehicles and medical machinery are in huge demand in Indian service sectors.
Germany is also a significant investor in India, ranking as the ninth largest. Over the next decade, the level of German investment is likely to grow further. Through mutual negotiations and accommodation of key economic objectives, meaningful outcomes can be achieved on issues such as overcoming regulatory hindrances, over-dependence on energy imports, slow manufacturing growth, barriers to technological adoption, and limited access to trade finance for MSMEs.

Defence Cooperation

In the defence and security domain, both India and Germany are active participants in counter-terrorism, maritime security and the Indo-Pacific sector. Joint exercises are in place between the two countries, such as Tarang Shakti (air) and Milan (naval). In September 2025, the German Parliament (Bundestag) updated the export-clearance framework for India, simplifying cooperation in avionics, sensors, electronic warfare and mission system components.
Germany has shown interest in India’s Make-in-India initiatives for possible co-production. A German Navy frigate and support vessels are scheduled to visit India in early 2026 as part of its ongoing Indo-Pacific deployment cycle. Merz’s visit could see forward movement on the co-development of military hardware and technology transfers, including a mega deal worth $5.2 billion under which Germany would build Type-214 conventional submarines in India.
Future defence-related plans also involve ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, which has shown keen interest in tying up with Mazagon Dock to build six vessels at a cost of $8 billion. Rheinmetall, Europe’s fifth-largest arms manufacturer, is also reportedly interested in the Indian industry, subject to certain relaxation of Indian regulatory laws, as German companies prefer complete control and autonomy over their operations in third countries. This issue could be negotiated between the two sides on a mutual give-and-take basis. Defence trade is an arena for potential growth. It rose from €34 million in 2021 to €2,136 million in 2023, a seven-fold surge, and has the potential to grow manifold by 2026.

People-to-People and Cultural Exchange

With the Indian diaspora currently living in Germany exceeding 300,000 (up from 210,000 in 2022 and 100,000 in 2016), Germany can further liberalise its immigration policy in order to attract more skill-based personnel from India. Under the Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement (MMPA) in 2022, Germany made it easier for Indian workers to migrate through a series of steps that included easier paperwork for work, study, research and training at major German institutions of higher learning.
Areas that can be expanded and explored include the issuance of more short-stay visas, talent exchange, quicker job-seeker visas, an increase in the annual allotment quota of 3,000 visas for Indians seeking employment in Germany, speeding up university application procedures, establishment of an Academic Evaluation Centre in New Delhi, increased residence permits (up to 18 months) for students after graduation to find jobs, multiple-entry short-stay visas for India, and priority allocation of visas for high-demand sectors such as IT and healthcare.
In this context, Indian students currently in Germany, who number over 50,000, are acting not only as cultural ambassadors but also as brain banks rather than brain drains by providing necessary technological skills and expertise to both the land of origin (India) and the land of migration (Germany). Similarly, as part of academic exchanges, there are nearly 500 partnerships between Indian and German universities promoting knowledge transfer, basic skills development, and collaborative research and innovation. Indian researchers’ expertise in AI, digitalisation, clean energy, smart cities, e-mobility, start-ups, skill development and waste management can be a valuable asset to Germany’s current and future needs.
India’s soft-power capabilities are already well-established brands in German cities and markets. These include Ayurveda, yoga, Bollywood, Indian cuisine, literature and classical texts, music and languages. Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s three visits to Germany in 1921, 1926 and 1930 played an major role in spreading the richness of India’s distinctive past to various German universities and research centres. Today, several major German universities such as Heidelberg University, Humboldt University, the Free University of Berlin and the University of Bonn offer courses popularising classical Indian languages and texts.

Challenges

A few challenges remain in the bilateral spectrum between India and Germany. First, the absence of a strictly bilateral investment treaty (BIT) has impeded the rapid planning and implementation of various long-term projects. Second, although a number of liberalised measures have been undertaken by the Indian government in recent years, from the German perspective labour regulatory mechanisms are not sufficiently aligned with the expectations of potential German investors.
Third, concepts such as strategic autonomy and strategic hedging are interpreted differently by Germany and India, with the former having a more rigid, NATO-centric view on the Ukraine issue. Fourth, delays in the issuance and processing of Schengen visas and related procedural issues have not been fast-tracked sufficiently to attract visitors and tourists from India.

The Way Forward

Despite these challenges, what is imperative is the sustenance of political will on both sides to carry the momentum forward. One key area of immense significance is the unanimity and convergence of the entire political class in both countries towards forging a closer and deeper partnership at various levels. This is likely to provide further impetus for a fast-track trajectory yielding positive dividends for both India and Germany in the short, medium and long term. Irrespective of global turbulence and shifting geopolitics, the India-Germany relationship remains on a firm wicket and is likely to weather such storms despite vulnerabilities and uncertainties.

(Mohammed Badrul Alam is Director of Research; Professor and Head, Department of Political Science (Retd), Faculty of Social Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi. The views expressed are personal and do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.)

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