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India as a key partner in the Indo-Pacific: The German Government adopts Focus on India paper
Chandni Chowk in New Delhi, © Kira Hofmann/photothek.de
India is the world’s most populous country, a strategic partner for Germany and an increasingly central and active shaper of the international order. In a paper adopted today, the German Government promotes a new perspective on India and on our bilateral relations.
As the world’s fifth-largest economy, India already plays a key role in global efforts to protect our climate and biodiversity and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals set out in the 2030 Agenda. In a region in which the principles of the UN Charter, international law and the rules-based international order are coming under pressure, India is a stabilising influence. The country also plays a central role for Germany as a source of well-qualified skilled labour.
We want to intensify our strategic partnership with India
On 16 October 2024, the Cabinet adopted the key strategic document Focus on India, which sheds light on the future direction of bilateral relations with India. The German Government wants to raise the strategic partnership that has underpinned our relationship with India since 2000 to a new level. The first steps towards implementation are to be agreed at the next Indo-German intergovernmental consultations at the end of the month.
The strategic partnership with India will celebrate its 25th anniversary next year. It is therefore appropriate that the German Government is comprehensively adapting its cooperation with India to make it fit for the future. In so doing, the German Government wants to encourage a stronger awareness of India among stakeholders from business, academia, media and society, as well as the federal states, to reflect the heightened importance of the country.
Expanding cooperation across the board
Focus on India covers the entire spectrum of bilateral Indo-German relations, also taking into account Europe’s India policy. Priorities include cooperation in the area of foreign and security policy, development cooperation, climate and environmental protection, expansion of business and trade relations, intensification of cooperation in the field of research and academia, and recruitment of skilled labour. The paper likewise emphasises the importance of exchange on basic values and fundamental rights, for example within the framework of the human rights dialogue between the European Union and India.
