"India is an anchor of stability in South Asia," German Chancellor says

Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal said on Thursday that PM Modi and Scholz's valuable guidance on India-Germany B2B engagements is critical to scaling up the partnership.

Scholz said that they respected rules-based international order and said they approve India's stance of long-lasting peace.

He said, "Especially in times like these, it is of the utmost importance that India is an anchor of stability in South Asia. The international rules-based order has come under massive pressure as a consequence of Russia's attack on Ukraine. Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine affects Germany and India in many ways. No one can cleanse his or her eyes to the conflict and the impact it has on us. Therefore, I approve that India supports a lasting and just peace, and I am pleased about your readiness to make use of the reliable relations that you have developed with all parties to contribute to a political solution to the conflict...We have by all means to avoid a further escalation of the violence in the Middle East. We need to see a ceasefire, the release of the hostages, and a political process that leads to a two-state solution...In the Indo-Pacific, the Federal Armed Forces are also present and underlines that there too, we stand up for respect for rules-based international order. The freedom of maritime trades must be respected everywhere."

Scholz said that he wished to attract skilled labour from India.

"In the field of medicine, in the care sector and in IT, it is our objective to attract even more skilled labour from your country. We have developed a specific country-specific agenda for India for that purpose that we have presented to our colleagues in New Delhi. It is, by the way, the first such country-specific agenda, and the framework of our strategy on skilled labour shows how much we value India as a partner in that respect... Our countries also want to cooperate more closely in the fields of environmentally friendly and sustainable technologies like digitization, software, and semiconductor production. We are therefore strengthening our innovation technology partnership. India is set to become a global hub for green hydrogen. The federal government and German companies would like to be part of this success story,"he said.

Scholz said that since the last 25 years of India-Germany partnership, their cooperation has become ever more trusting and substantial.

"25 years ago, we created the strategic partnership between Germany and India. Our cooperation has become ever more trusting, solid and substantial. Growing together with innovation, mobility and sustainability is the motto of the 7th Indo-German Intergovernmental Consultations that have taken place today. It is a fitting motto because it illustrates the extent to which India and Germany both benefit in equal measure from this good and trusting cooperation. This is especially true for the field of economic ties. Germany has become India's most important trading partner in the European Union, and I'm determined to further strengthen and build on this link and cooperation...As Chancellor, I strongly favour an ambitious FTA, Free Trade Agreement between India and the European Union. I believe that both sides would benefit, and it should be our ambition to make headway in that regard," he said. (ANI)