German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday at the PM's official residence, Lok Kalyan Marg, ahead of their participation in the 18th Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business (APK 2024).
PM Modi and the German Chancellor will inaugurate the Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business 2024 on Friday.
The event, which gathers around 650 business leaders and CEOs from Germany, India, and other nations, aims to bolster trade and investment relations between Germany and the Indo-Pacific region.
After that, there will be a joint plenary session for all participants in government consultations chaired by the heads of government.
"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 Bengaluru.
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.
(With inputs from IANS)
