German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul to visit India on Sept 2-3

He will arrive in Bengaluru on September 2 and visit the Indian Space Research Organisation before leaving for Delhi later in the day.

On September 3, Wadephul will meet Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, followed by a meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in New Delhi.

He will depart the same day.

The visit follows Jaishankar's meeting with German Member of Parliament Jurgen Hardt in New Delhi last month, where the two leaders discussed bilateral ties and global developments.

In a post on X, Jaishankar wrote, "Always nice to catch up with German MP @juergenhardt. Discussed our bilateral cooperation and global developments."

According to MEA, Germany is one of India's most valued partners in Europe. The two countries share a strong strategic partnership, which has grown steadily over the decades since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1951. In March 2021, both sides marked 70 years of diplomatic ties.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have held regular meetings, both bilaterally and on the sidelines of key global summits. In fact, they have met six times in the last two years.

Their latest meeting took place during the G7 Summit in Apulia, Italy in June 2024, where they reviewed ongoing cooperation. Prior to that, the two leaders met at the G20 Summit in New Delhi in September 2023 and also during the G7 Summit in Hiroshima in May 2023. Chancellor Scholz had also paid a standalone State visit to India in February 2023, a first by a German Chancellor since the launch of the Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) format.

India and Germany held their 6th IGC in Berlin in May 2022, co-chaired by PM Modi and Chancellor Scholz. Several agreements were signed in the fields of clean energy, health, agroecology, skill development, mobility, and more. A major outcome was the Joint Declaration of Intent on the Green and Sustainable Development Partnership (GSDP), as per MEA. (ANI)