Germany accelerates India's inclusion in its Indo-Pacific strategy as Olaf Scholz seeks stronger ties with New Delhi

The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to India on a standalone basis was quite unprecedented for over a decade. Evidently, his personal understanding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the last year, when they have met three times, and the role India has played globally have made an impact on Germany. That India is the G20 chair and will continue to play an important role with a growing economy and credit for its dignified approach to global problems are also assets. For media purposes, the visit was to deal with Ukraine. It is clear that from the start of the crisis, Germany is the biggest victim in Europe of the crisis, finding its autonomy compromised and the economy threatened. At the same time, India’s consistent position on the Ukraine crisis has seen perceptions about it graduate from criticism to tactical acceptance and now grudging appreciationThe Indian approach to Ukraine offers an opening of diplomatic opportunities which Germany and other European countries would certainly like to grasp and would like India to play a bigger role, particularly as the G20 chair. However, under the media glare, the major effort by Scholz is to implement Germany’s nascent Indo-Pacific policy. This is less of a strategic doctrine and more of an economic expansion approach. In pursuit of this Scholz visited Japan, Vietnam and Singapore besides China since assuming office in December 2021. He received Prime Minister Modi in May 2022, for the inter-governmental consultations. His visit within a year of that was essential to pursue the Indo-Pacific strategy and consolidating India as an economic partner with an important part in the global climate agenda, which is strategic for German policy. Under Germany’s Indo-Pacific policy, they want to expand cooperation on green and sustainable issues and on economic matters. On this, there was much on the plate. First, the global Sustainability and Development Partnership enunciated during the intergovernmental consultations in May 2022 is now taking shape. Nearly €1 billion has been committed for the current year’s projects and the €10 billion committed for the entire period up to 2030 will have to speed up if it is to be utilized within the timeframe. Germany is an important partner in green mobility in Namami Gange, in solar power and is contributing much to India’s development of metros based on solar energy in various cities. This trend is expected to continue. Secondly, the presence of a small but committed German business delegation with the chancellor shows that there is a strategic rethink and nudging of German business to look at India as part of the Indo-Pacific policy, which is essentially a China plus one strategy. German companies are heavily committed to China, but now they are looking at expanding their R&D, skill development, and manufacturing in India for the Indian market and beyond. Siemens, for instance, has signed a contract with the Indian Railways for technology transfers, skilling of workforce and production of 1,100 new locomotives to augment the greening of Indian Railways as well as building their core strengths. Other German companies are looking at expanding manufacturing bases in India to export back to Europe or to seek value chains with their growing interest in the ASEAN and in Africa. Thirdly, the mobility pact signed during the December visit of German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock to India is now being nudged towards fruition. During his visit to Bengaluru, Scholz met young people and visited I-T and solar-related institutions and clearly gave the message that Germany was ready to accept more Indian students and more Indians in Germany’s workforce. The expansion of the German economy requires talented workers and India is a priority for them. This is quite different from the way the UK approaches mobility with India and therefore extremely welcome. Fourth, is that India and Germany want to work together to reform multilateralism and get the international order to abide by rules. Their partnership in the G4 to reform the UN Security Council continues, though an end is not in sight. Nevertheless, closer working together to reform other UN bodies and their work could pay dividends. Here, however, interests often clash as at the WTO or the WHO. India and Germany need to put a better partnership in place so that these ideas are implemented in reality. The triangular Development Partnership of India and Germany working together to improve grassroots lives in other developing countries has started well with projects in Africa and Latin America. This needs greater attention, scaling up and faster implementation. In fact, they should look at establishing an impact investment fund which will invest in companies that will deliver on the SDGs with a transition from a grant-based model to an investment-based model with greater potency for the Indian private sector. This will serve the objectives better. Finally, Germany is India’s largest trading partner in Europe. It is also among the leading investors over the last decade; however, there is more Indian investment flowing to Germany than the other way around. Germany remains far ahead of France and others in its economic partnership with India. Since its traditional defence, strategic cooperation in space, and nuclear fields are limited it is often not seen as a strategic partner. For Germany, Climate Partnership, a green and sustainable development partnership, larger economic engagement and the pursuit of young people and their mobility into Germany are strategic concerns. These are all being pursued now. It needs to be recognised, that the German Indo-Pacific policy is more of a functional than a strategic construct. In pursuit of that Germany is pushing its agenda with clarity. For this, they need to be complimented for contributing to Atmanirbhar Bharat through manufacturing in India and providing options for the mobility of Indian students and professionals to Germany. The forthright assertion by Scholz that he would take a personal interest in the India-EU FTA and investment agreements to ensure early success is encouraging since Germany has not done much to nudge Brussels in this direction; their role now could be critical in overcoming the bureaucratic hurdles which continue to mar the IndiaEU negotiations. Germany despite its preoccupation with Ukraine yet finds time to focus on India in meaningful ways. This is an impressive development. The author is a former ambassador to Germany, Indonesia, Ethiopia ASEAN and the African Union. He tweets @AmbGurjitSingh. Views expressed are personal. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .