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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is in India on a two-day State visit on Friday morning met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his 7 Lok Kalyan Marg official residence in New Delhi.
Later, PM Modi and German Chancellor Scholz jointly inaugurated the Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business 2024. Both leaders are set to hold bilateral talks focusing on defence, trade, and clean energy as per a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs. The two leaders are scheduled to have discussions on enhanced security and defence cooperation, greater opportunities for the mobility of talent, deeper economic cooperation, the Green and Sustainable Development Partnership and collaboration in the area of emerging and strategic technologies. Scholz will co-chair the 7th Intergovernmental Consultations (IGC), a biannual meeting involving ministers from both countries. The IGC is a whole-of-government framework under which Ministers from both sides hold discussions in their respective areas of responsibility and report on the outcome of their deliberations to the Prime Minister and Chancellor. Scholz and PM Modi will address the 18th Asia Pacific Conference of German Business (APK 2024) being held in the national capital The Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business 2024., a biennial event for business leaders, executives, and political representatives from Germany and the countries in Indo-Pacific, is expected to give a further fillip to trade and investment ties between our two countries. About 650 top business leaders and CEOs from Germany, India, and other countries are expected to participate in the event. On the second day of his visit, Chancellor Scholz will be in in Goa, where the German naval frigate "Baden-Wuerttemberg" and combat support ship "Frankfurt am Main" will make a scheduled port call as part of Germany's Indo-Pacific deployment. The Chancellor will depart later tomorrow, concluding his visit to India. Germany is one of India's most important partners in Europe.The two countries have had a 'Strategic Partnership' in place since 2000, which has been further strengthened with the launch of IGC at the level of heads of government. The two countries have collaborations on various fronts such as defence, science and technology, investments and higher education.India and Germany share a robust economic and developmental partnership. The country is home to a large number of people from the Indian diaspora who have positively contributed to the growth of the country.Chancellor Scholz had visited India twice last year, for a bilateral state visit in February 2023 and to attend the G20 Leaders' Summit in September 2023. The biennial IGC format was launched in 2011 and allows for a comprehensive review of cooperation and identification of new areas of engagement at the Cabinet level. India is among a select group of countries with which Germany has such a mechanism, as per the statement. As per the statement, this year, India and Germany are also celebrating the 50 years of Science and Technology Cooperation. Under this cooperation, both sides have taken up projects in several areas of global and emerging importance, like space research, AI, sustainability, earth and environment sciences and advanced materials. (ANI)
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