• India
  • Jan 07

2021 marks 70th anniversary of establishment of India-Germany bilateral ties

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a video-teleconference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on January 6. 

• The two leaders discussed key issues of mutual importance including the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, bilateral ties, regional and global issues, particularly India-EU relations. 

• PM Modi welcomed Germany’s decision to join the International Solar Alliance (ISA), and expressed his desire to further strengthen cooperation with Germany under the platform of Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).

• Noting that this year marks the 70th anniversary of setting up bilateral relations between India and Germany and 20th anniversary of the Strategic Partnership, the two leaders agreed to hold the sixth Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) at an early date in 2021 and to set an ambitious agenda for the same.

India-Germany relations

• India is one of the first countries to end the state of war with post-war Germany in 1951 and amongst the first countries to recognize the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). The relationship, based on common values of democracy and rule of law, has strengthened significantly in the 1990s following India’s economic liberalisation and the end of the Cold War. Today, Germany is amongst India’s most important partners both bilaterally and in the global context. 

• India and Germany have a ‘Strategic Partnership’ since 2001, which has been further strengthened with the Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) at the level of head of governments (German Chancellor and PM) which allows for a comprehensive review of cooperation and identification of new areas of engagement. India is amongst a select group of countries with which Germany has such a high-level consultations. 

• Some states and cities of India and Germany have entered into twinning arrangements. Karnataka and Bavaria have a sister state arrangement since 2007. Mumbai and Stuttgart have been sister cities since 1968. In January 2015, Maharashtra and Baden-Wurttemberg signed an MoU to establish a sister state relationship.

• Germany is one of the largest foreign direct investors in India. Germany’s total FDI in India from April 2000 until June 2019 amounted to $11.9 billion.

• Germany is one of India’s largest trading partners in Europe.

• The total investments from Germany in the year 2018-19 were to the tune of $886 million, making Germany a major investment partner for India.

• Energy, sustainable economic development, environment and management of natural resources are priority areas under development cooperation. The unique feature of German development cooperation with India is that it focuses less on local projects and more on programmes with a structural impact. These programmes build on India’s own efforts and reform programmes. They demonstrate model solutions and qualify the participating partners to continue and expand the projects independently.

Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure

• During the 74th UN General Assembly in New York in September 2019, PM Narendra Modi announced the launch of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).

• The Union Cabinet had approved the establishment of CDRI along with its supporting secretariat office in New Delhi.

• CDRI is designed to be an international platform where knowledge is generated and exchanged on different aspects of disaster and climate resilience of infrastructure brings together technical expertise from a multitude of stakeholders. In doing so, it creates a mechanism to assist countries to upgrade their capacities and practices, with regard to infrastructure development. 

• It is a partnership of national governments, UN agencies and programmes, multilateral development banks and financing mechanisms, the private sector, and knowledge institutions that aims to promote the resilience of new and existing infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks, thereby ensuring sustainable development.

• Institutions such as International Solar Alliance and CDRI are major initiatives by India to harness India’s domestic strengths and capacities and mobilise international efforts to answer global problems and challenges. 

Members of CDRI (as on December 11 2020)

Countries:

• India

• Afghanistan

• Argentina

• Australia

• Bhutan

• Fiji

• France

• Germany

• Italy

• Japan

• Maldives

• Mauritius

• Mongolia

• Nepal

• Peru

• Sri Lanka

• Turkey

• United Kingdom

• United States of America.

Multilateral Organisations:

• Asian Development Bank (ADB)

• World Bank Group

• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

• United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store

Notes