Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday visited the facilities of German automotive major Bosch in Bangaluru, as part of the chancellor's three-day state visit to India, with focus on innovation and skills
Indian media reports say Merkel and Modi may discuss resuming stalled India-EU Free Trade Agreement negotiations -- a market-opening pact to boost bilateral commerce.
German investments in India stand at 9.7 billion euros with about 1,600 companies in the country, where the chemistry, energy and pharmaceuticals sectors are of greatest interest.
India overtook China to top the league table for greenfield foreign direct investment (new ventures) in the first half, pulling in $30 billion in estimated capital expenditure, according to a Financial Times analysis.
It comes as Modi's relentless foreign tour aimed at wooing economic powers -- dubbed Modiplomacy -- appears to possibly be paying dividends on the investment front.
This week's Berlin delegation includes the Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, several cabinet ministers and German business leaders, who will travel to the southern technology hub of Bangalore after the stop in Delhi.
Germany agreed to lend India some of the vocational education expertise that has turned it into an engineering giant, with skilled workers crucial to Modi's ambitions for the manufacturing sector.
The leaders met in April on Modi's first official visit to Germany, where he sought to draw more of its investment clout towards the subcontinent and his flagship "Make in India" campaign.
The two nations exchanged nearly 16 billion euros ($17.9 billion) in trade in 2014 -- mostly chemicals, machine tools, electrical goods and textiles -- but the figure has declined in the past three years.
But for Germany, Europe's largest economy, India last year ranked just 25th on the list of countries with which it does business.
Germany is already India's most important trading partner in Europe and both Modi and Merkel have said they are keen to boost two-way trade.
"Prime Minister Modi and Chancellor Merkel will hold discussions on a wide range of issues of mutual interest," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement, adding that trade, defence and renewable energy were among the topics on the menu.
She will meet with Modi, President Pranab Mukherjee and trade officials on her first trip to India since the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party stormed to power last year.
Briefly leaving behind a refugee crisis in Europe where her leadership has sparked whispers of the Nobel Peace Prize, the German chancellor landed in New Delhi late Sunday for a three-day visit.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi on Monday.
Angela Merkel began her visit to India Monday with the spotlight on trade, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi looks to the Teutonic powerhouse for investment and to glean insights from its manufacturing prowess.
India is also understood to have strongly raised with Germany the issue of restrictions on the movement of Indian pharmaceutical products, essentially 700 drugs, within Europe. (Photo: AP)
A joint statement by the two countries also underlined the commitment towards “protection of human rights and democratic values”, something which raised eyebrows but Indian government sources said these were only issues no two genuine democracies
The two countries also discussed the situation in Afghanistan and Syria, and the menace of terrorism, during which India’s stand that Pakistan is a key sponsor of terrorism is learnt to have figured. (Photo: AP)
The two countries also signed a pact for deployment of sky marshals on board certain flights between the two countries to strengthen anti-hijacking measures. (Photo: AP)
In a major effort to boost ties during the visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, India and Germany signed a total of 18 agreements and MoUs, including a deal to fast-track approvals for German companies in India. (Photo: AP)
"India is a key location in our global innovation network. To further strengthen our presence in the country, we plan to invest INR 650 crores (over 100 million euros) in 2015," Peter Tyroller, head of Bosch said. (Photo: Twitter)
He emphasized the significant contribution that Indian engineers have made to Bosch's success story in India, as well as to their current importance for the company's worldwide activities in many strategic areas such as data mining and smart
"Preparing the next generation of technicians. Making the vision of Skill India a reality," Swarup said in his tweets during the visit of the two leaders, as they were briefed on on "Industrie 4.0 to Big Data" on solutions developed at Bosch India
"Readying the ground force for 'Make in India'," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted as the two leaders went through the facility, where they were gifted the "lion", the logo of the 'Make in India' campaign. (Photo: Twitter)
During the nearly two-hour long visit, the two leaders, accompanied by a high-level German delegation, walked through the Bosch Innovation Center and the vocational training centre, enquiring about the company's research, engineering, and vocational
To further strengthen its presence in India, Bosch said it plans to invest Rs 650 crores (over 100 million euros) in 2015. (Photo: Twitter)