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India and Germany on Monday finalised a set of agreements across a wide range of sectors, including defence, technology, health, energy and human resources, during German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's two-day official visit to India.
The Ministry of External Affairs said the two sides concluded 19 agreements and announced several measures to intensify engagement across strategic, economic and people-to-people pillars. One of the key outcomes was a Joint Declaration of Intent to boost bilateral defence industrial cooperation. Speaking at the India-Germany CEOs Forum, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "This will provide clear policy support to our companies for co-innovation and co-production in defence. New opportunities for cooperation will also open up in the space sector." To strengthen the economic partnership, India and Germany also decided to establish a CEO Forum to be integrated into the Joint India-Germany Economic and Investment Committee. In the domain of critical and emerging technologies, the two countries signed multiple declarations of intent, including a semiconductor ecosystem partnership, cooperation on critical minerals, and collaboration in telecommunications. Energy and sustainability were among the major focus areas of the outcomes. An offtake agreement was signed between India's AM Green and Germany's Uniper Global Commodities for green ammonia. In addition, an MoU was signed between India's Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board and the German Technical and Scientific Association for Gas and Water Industries (DVGW) to cooperate on renewable energy. On education, skilling and mobility, a higher education roadmap was adopted, and additional agreements were concluded, including the establishment of a National Centre of Excellence for Skilling in Renewable Energy at the National Skill Training Institute in Hyderabad. Germany also announced visa-free transit for Indian passport holders transiting through the country. The two sides agreed to set up a Track 1.5 Foreign Policy and Security Dialogue and a bilateral dialogue mechanism focused on the Indo-Pacific, the MEA said. Germany committed an additional 1.24 billion euros under the Green and Sustainable Development Partnership (GSDP) for projects in renewable energy, green hydrogen, the PM e-Bus Sewa programme, and climate-resilient urban infrastructure. The Prime Minister's Office said Germany had earlier committed 10 billion euros under the partnership for 2030, largely in the form of concessional loans, and that around 5 billion euros have already been utilised or earmarked for projects since 2022. The MEA further said that a battery storage working group has been initiated under the India-Germany Platform for Investments in Renewable Energy Worldwide. (ANI)
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