Olaf Scholz Drives ‘India Focus’ in Fastlane with China Heartburn

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz Seeks Deeper Ties with India

By Manish Anand

New Delhi, October 25: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has arrived in New Delhi for a consequential bilateral visit. He will lead the German delegation in the 7^th Intergovernmental Consultations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi rushed back from Kazan in Russia to host Scholz. The chancellor will also take part in the 18th Asia Pacific Conference of German Business (APK 2024).

Officially, the backdrop of the Scholz visit is set by India and Germany deepening ties in areas of defence, trade and clean energy. Germany is India’s key strategic partner.

Also Read: Germany accuses China of economic espionage disinformation campaign

Scholz arrived in New Delhi within a fortnight of unveiling an ‘India Focus’ paper. The Foreign Ministry of Germany had released its ‘India Focus’ paper in which it spelt out strategies to deepen ties with India.

Garima Mohan, a strategic affairs analyst, while writing in Internationale Politik, argued that Scholz’s India visit signals an “end of German Asia policy from the era of the former Chancellor Angela Merkel, which focused primarily on China”. Scholz was the first head of the state to fly to Beijing to fete Xi Jinping after the Chinese Communist ruler took the third term in the office.

But China and Germany had since been drifting away. Germany companies have long been complaining against China for blocking market access.

Germany released ‘Focus on India’ strategy paper on October 16, 2024. This came ahead of the 7th German-Indian Intergovernmental Consultations (IGCs).

The two-day long consultations will see India and Germany broadening the scope for cooperation in defence and clean energy areas. Germany will also seek more opportunities in the Indian economy.

Also Read: Germany spells out conditional ‘One China policy’ flags Beijing flouting rules-based order

Mohan recalled remarks of External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar made during the annual German ambassadors’ conference in Berlin, saying: “In a shifting global order, India sees the European Union and Germany as ‘key players’, particularly on innovation and technology, clean energy, migration and mobility, as well as security and defence.”

Germany is also a G7 member. India is currently caught in diplomatic spat with Canada, a G7 member, which is also being fed intelligence by the US, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.

Unlike other G7 members, India largely has no complaints against Germany on Sikh separatists. There is a strong Indian diaspora in Germany. There are 43,000 Indian students in Germany.

Yet, India is closer to France in defence cooperation. Germany aims to gain more attention from Indian in defence cooperation. India and Germany are collaborating in the joint productions of nuclear-powered submarines.

“India would welcome Germany taking a keen interest in the Indo-Pacific, just as it does in the Euro-Atlantic region,” Jaishankar had told the annual German ambassadors’ conference.

Berlin’s warmth for New Delhi also comes in the backdrop of China lately been spelling out conditional ‘One China Policy’. Germany in an official paper had also accused China of espionage.

The annual trade between Germany and India is $33 billion. India is taking interest to gain German expertise in green hydrogen and green ammonia.

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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