Indian PM Modi to talk business with German Chancellor Merkel

Dr. Abdul Ruff

An impression, rather illusion has been created by India that its premier Narendra Modi is the first ever Indian leader to reach out to world, visiting foreign nations one after another in a US style shuttle diplomatic move as per the PMO schedule, meeting world leaders to talk business, apart from asking Indian diasporas living abroad comfortably to invest lavishly their money in India to make it become a super power as early as possible.  For Indians, however, the Modi phenomenon is a failed entity unable to bring back the black money from abroad in spite of his much publicized and extensive foreign tours and meeting big leaders. Indian so voters stand betrayed by the Modi rhetoric and emotional outbursts.

Maybe, what the BJP regime and its media lords do in order to promote “Modi Abroad” agenda on a grand scale is not bad at all. The ruling elite claims that such global policy can take India to greater heights, but all major powers know all this by heart and also know how deal with India’s new big ambitions.

Merkel is accompanied by a large delegation comprising six cabinet ministers, and businesspersons, and will also be visiting Bengaluru.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the German Chancellor Ms Angela Merkel arrived New Delhi on Sunday the 04th of October on a two-day official visit (4-6 October). She will be to India soon after Modi returned from his second visit to USA on a variety of reasons with his busy itinerary in US capital.  .

This is Ms Merkel's first visit to India since the Narendra Modi government came to power. The leaders met in April when PM Modi visited Germany, where he sought to draw more investment towards his "Make in India" campaign. During her meeting with PM Modi, Ms Merkel is expected to convey the concerns of German industries in proceeding with planned investments in India. Both leaders are also likely to exchange views on regional and global issues including climate change.

Merkel’s India visit comes six months after PM Modi's visit to Germany in April when the two leaders jointly inaugurated the Hannover Fair where Germany had set the world stage for India as the exclusive partner country.

During her visit, Ms Merkel will also meet President Pranab Mukherjee and Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj today before heading to Bangalore for a business conference. The two leaders are also scheduled to have a one-on-one meeting before delegation-level talks.

Chancellor Angela Merkel will hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Modi in New Delhi today. The discussions between the two leaders will cover a wide range of issues including security and defence, with special focus on boosting trade ties.

This morning, after she received a ceremonial welcome at the Presidential palace (Rashtraparti Bhavan) where she was received by President Pranab Mukherjee, she said Germany "fully intends to support the ambitious program that PM Modi has outlined for the development of this nation." "We will co-operate on areas such as economy, agriculture, internal security, defence matters and financial relations," she added.

The increasing warmth in Indo-German relations is reflected in people-to-people contacts also. The number of Indian students at German universities has been rising by 20 percent every year – to about 10,000. Besides, more and more Germans in Germany are taking to yoga and Ayurveda, watch Bollywood movies and attend Holi parties in German cities. India is in an interesting phase! India is in a crucial

phase: It overhauls its economy. It reinvigorates its international engagements in order to harness its full potential as a rising power in a multipolar world. With new self-confidence, India engages its neighborhood, re-energizes its relations to the wider world and underlines its claim as a future member of the Security Council.

PM Modi said in his regular tweet: I look forward to fruitful discussions & strengthening India-Germany ties”. "Namaste Chancellor Merkel! Warm welcome to you and the delegation. I look forward to fruitful discussions & strengthening India-Germany ties," tweeted Modi.

According to Indian sources, the talks between the two leaders will aim at deepening bilateral engagement in education, renewable energy, skill development, science and technology, railways, water and waste management, urban development and agriculture.

The EU leader Germany is Europe’s number one economy and an additional veto member of discredited UNSC and India is trying its active diplomacy to  get Germany on its board to help obtain a veto seat even though all veto members have rejected Indian ambition as a soft dream, magic fairy tale.  Though he knows it is impossible, Modi pursues the veto  to get Indians accept BJP  as the real patriotic force in the country.

Germany is India's most important trading partner in Europe and both PM Modi and Ms Merkel have said they are keen to boost two-way trade.

But for Germany, Europe's largest economy, India last year ranked just 25th on the list of countries with which it does business. The two nations exchanged nearly 16 billion Euros ($17.9 billion) in trade in

2014 -- mostly chemicals, machine tools, electrical goods and textiles

-- but the figure has declined in the past three years.

As many as 1,700 German companies are doing business in India today and are providing jobs to roughly 400,000 Indian employees. The Indo-German Chamber of Commerce is the largest German bi-national Chamber abroad and also the largest Chamber of Commerce in India with over 7,000 German and Indian member companies across many sectors.

India is also the biggest partner of Germany’s development cooperation worldwide. In 2014, Germany provided 1.3 billion Euros for programs in the areas of energy, environment and sustainable economic development.

India seeks the German help in many areas. Germany can help India in a big way in realising its ambitious goals in such diverse areas as cleaning of rivers, upgrading infrastructure, improving air quality of Indian cities, besides lending a crucial helping hand in PM Modi’s pet schemes like Smart Cities, Skill India and Digital India. Germany has already demonstrated its skills in cleaning two of its major rivers, Rhine and Elbe, which were heavily polluted but are now swimmable.

Germany has already offered its expertise in cleaning Ganga and Yamuna. Besides, India can harness Germany’s vocational training system and turn a demographic challenge into a true demographic dividend. PM Modi has already described Germany as “a natural partner”

for his “Skill India” program. In the field of clean energy, where Germany is a proven world leader, India can benefit from the German expertise. Germany has already invested heavily in India’s Green Energy Corridors.

Significantly, Germany is the only country with which India conducts these bi-annual joint cabinet meetings. But Indian strategic analysts say their bilateral trade is nowhere close to its true potential considering that the two sides’ trade history which spans over 500 years – with the first German trading ships arriving in Goa in the 16th century.

Interestingly Merkel is coming to India at a time when her personal stock is at an all time high in her country in her tenth consecutive year of rule. She is being seen as a serious contender for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for her significant contribution in two major European crises – the ongoing deluge of migrants from the troubled Middle East and the Greek financial problems.

Modi will accompany the German leader in her travel to Bengaluru a business conference with corporates and top business cum media magnets. In fact, India has successfully overtaken its nuclear rival Pakistan on international arena.  Pakistan is weakened as it is caught in anti-Islamic NATO web and interested only in following up Indian actions and has lost its originality and does not have any clear cut ideas about internationalism. Today, India has managed to rally all powers on its side though outcomes of all this remains a mystery.