25 Feb 2023 India – Germany Relations

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India – Germany Relations

This article covers “Daily current events “and the topic is about ‘India – Germany Relations’ which is in news, it covers “International Relations” In GS-2, the following content has relevance for UPSC.

For Prelims: India – Germany Relations

For Mains: GS-2, International Relations

Why in news: During two significant trips from Europe, when German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the Danish Crown Prince visit India for talks, cooperation with India on addressing climate change and implementing energy transitions will be at the top of the agenda.

India was among the first nations to recognise the Federal Republic of Germany in 1951 and one of the first to terminate the state of war with that nation following World War II (FRG).
With India’s economic liberalisation and the end of the Cold War, the relationship, which is built on shared ideals of democracy and the rule of law, greatly deepened in the 1990s.
The two trips to Germany made by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1956 and 1960 determined the direction of the two countries relationship.
Since 2001, India and Germany have had a “strategic cooperation” that has been strengthened through two rounds of Intergovernmental Consultations (IGC), which were held in New Delhi in May 2011 and in Berlin in April 2013.
Foreign policy topics like East Asia, Central Asia, UN concerns, disarmament & non-proliferation, etc. are regularly discussed between the two parties.

Indian Diaspora

Cold War Period

In exchange for India’s adoption of the Hallstein Doctrine, which required New Delhi to freeze relations with the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in order to permit German development assistance, Germany was happy to back India throughout the Cold War.
India appeared to have adopted the Hallstein Doctrine despite having strong ties with the Soviet Union for practical reasons.
Such a practical approach was appreciated and was seen as such. In a sense, this enhanced Germany’s perception of India’s non-alignment
Different opinions existed between India and Germany regarding one another and their separate foreign policies.
As a result of his mistrust of the Soviet Union, Adenauer believed that post-war France and Germany may be vulnerable to Soviet aggression.
These concerns were not shared by Nehru, who believed that as long as Eastern Europe remained unaffected, the Soviet Union’s might and aspirations were constrained.
At the same time, Adenauer sought Indian support for German reunification among developing nations as a result of the success of the Bandung Afro-Asian Conference in 1955 and later the Non-Aligned Movement summit in 1961.
German industry lost interest in the middle of the 1960s as a result of the domestic economic problems in India, the drought, the devaluation, and the slowdown in the industry.
The Indo-Soviet Treaty of Friendship had been signed by India by 1971, and the FRG believed India to be a hopeless cause.
The German response to the Bangladesh issue in 1971 was very similar to that of other Western nations. This was evident when they sent Pakistan weapons in 1965 during the Indo-Pakistan conflict.
When Chancellor Helmut Schmidt came to power in 1974, he quickly tried to follow the US lead on the opening to China. Schmidt saw the promise of China’s growth and showed little interest in India.
The weak export regulations on nuclear materials, which allowed Pakistan to receive them from Europe, particularly Germany, were another view that plagued the Indo-German relationship.

Trade and Economic Relations between India – Germany Relations

India is Germany’s greatest trading partner in the European Union, despite the lack of a separate trade deal between the two countries (EU).
India is also Germany’s fourth-largest economic partner in the Indo-Pacific area, with plenty of space for expansion.
In terms of global commerce, Germany placed India 25th in 2018.
The value of all bilateral commerce between the two nations was $24.8 billion in the financial year (FY) 2021–2022, up from US$21.76 billion in FY 2020–2021.
With cumulative foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows of US$13.8 billion between April 2000 and September 2022, Germany ranks ninth among investors in India.
The transportation, electrical equipment, and metallurgical industries, as well as the services industry (insurance), chemicals, building activities, trading, and autos, have seen significant German investment in India.

Trade and Economic Relations

Science & Technology

With the signing of the Intergovernmental S&T Cooperation Agreement in 1971 and 1974, Indo-German science and technology collaboration was established.
Germany is currently one of India’s most crucial international partners for S&T cooperation.
Amongst the universities of the two nations, there are more than 150 collaborative S&T research initiatives and 70 direct collaborations.
The Max Planck Society, Fraunhofer Labs, and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation are just a few of the prestigious German R&D institutions with whom India’s scientific agencies have close relationships.
In 2008, the Indo-German Science & Technology Centre was established in New Delhi with collaborative funding.
The Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) at Darmstadt and the Deutsche Elektronen Synchrotron (DESY) for studies in advanced materials and particle physics are two significant science projects in Germany that India has invested in.

Cultural Relations between India and Germany

There is a long history of intellectual and cultural connections between Germany and India.
Indian art, culture, literature, and philosophy have been widely disseminated around the world thanks in large part to the German intellectual tradition.
Germany and India ‘Days of India’ in Germany in 2012–2013 and ‘Year of Germany in India’ in 2011–12 commemorated the 60th anniversary of the start of diplomatic relations.
The Tagore Centre, established by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) in Berlin in 1994, frequently offers programmes to highlight the rich cultural diversity and Indian history through a variety of dance, music, literary events, films, talks, seminars, and exhibition events.

Indian Diaspora

In Germany, there are roughly 1,10,000 persons of Indian descent, of whom 43,175 have Indian passports and 67,029 have German ones.
The majority of Indians living abroad are technocrats, businesspeople/traders, and nurses.
Several Indian associations and organisations are working on the business and cultural fronts, strengthening relations between India and Germany on a personal level.