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The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the German Chancellor, Dr Angela Merkel…Exploring ways to tap the vast uncharted opportunities in India.

Mohan Murti

Last week, I was aboard the German Air Force One with the delegation led by the German Chancellor, Dr Angela Merkel, to India. Flying into India’s financial capital, Mumbai, we circled around the airport for 35 minutes before we were given permission to land. As we were in the final approach into runway 09, we were transported over some of the largest slums in Asia, before landing at the country’s biggest international airport. After we deplaned in the VVIP are a of the airport, our motorcade drove along the airport perimeter wall that give the high-level delegation of Germany’s top executives, scientists and politicians, a better view of the 200 acres of slums that have encroached on the airport land.

While I turned my nose to my shoulder, squeezed my eyes shut, my German friends, piqued with curiosity, got busy shooting away photographs with their cameras, of the open garbage dumps, the shanties that are built perilously close to the edge of the airport’s main runway, the cesspools and the women and children easing themselves in the open spaces in the slums.

Later, we were informed that there was no land or plan for resettlement and with the slum-dwellers sceptical about moving out, the modernisation plans for Mumbai’s airport seem to be in the doldrums. At the Urban Age Awards function hosted by Deutsche Bank, Dr Merkel delivered the keynote address and mentioned that helping cities means also developing the countryside. This has been a basic rule of the German development policy.

Germany has seen very high growth rates in the past and with its successful experience, it can be a good partner to help India improve life in the cities.

On October 29, when we landed in New Delhi, the Indian stock index went through 20,000 for the first time, boosted by $18 billion in foreign funds this year and up almost 40 per cent since January. Investors from around the world, including Germany, obviously want a piece of the action.

German firms are keen on a share of the over 350 billion euros that India plans to invest in infrastructure and other projects in the next five years.

Besides infrastructure, sectors such as science and technology, energy, research and development and information technology are areas in which German firms are most interested.

Bildunterschrift: India is now Germany’s fourth largest trading partner in Asia, after China, Japan and South Korea. Bilateral trade stands at roughly10.6 billion euros with German exports to India last year surging by more than 50 per cent.

Germany is the fourth largest investor in India and newly-confident Indian companies are also increasingly making acquisitions in Europe’s largest economy.

On the business front, Dr Merkel’s job was unambiguous — seeking ways to tap what experts say are vast uncharted opportunities in energy and infrastructure among other sectors. The high-profile business delegation accompanying Merkel used the Chancellor’s visit to pressure Delhi to tackle familiar problems of over-regulation, red-tape, corruption, crumbling infrastructure and an unreliable energy supply.

Politically, however, Dr Merkel faced complicated talks with Dr Manmohan Singh, particularly on climate change. Dr Merkel who has taken the lead on tackling the issue in Europe, clinched a deal to halve greenhouse gases at the G-8 summit in Germany earlier this year.

The environment was high on the agenda in Dr Merkel’s talks with Indian leaders, who have signalled the country is not ready to compromise economic growth by accepting binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions.

However, from the upbeat mood it was evident that Dr Manmohan Singh and Dr Angela Merkel seemed determined to find solutions on the two key global questions — World Trade Talks and Climate Change.

Compared to Germany, the degree of pollution in India is still low per capita. German companies have a lot to offer Indians in terms of renewable energy, clean coal technology and energy efficiency know-how. Together, Germany and India urged all nations to actively contribute to negotiations for a comprehensive climate protection treaty that is to succeed the Kyoto Protocol in 2012.

Other delicate political topics discussed included the stalled talks on UN reforms and a common desire in Delhi and Berlin for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council, tough German visa procedures for Indian business leaders and a controversial deal on the civilian nuclear cooperation between India and the US.

A Defence agreement covering the exchange of information and cooperation in the fields of Defence research, armament procurement and general Defence technology was also signed. India is now the biggest arms buyer among the emerging nations.

Our first trade contacts with Germany date back to 1505, when ships financed by the Fugger family from Augsburg landed in Goa and the great poet, Goethe, was enormously inspired by Sanskrit vedic texts. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s successful visit to India has shifted attention to giving the largest democracy, recognition that has been long overdue.

Accolade should also go to Dr Manmohan Singh, who decided to treat Dr Merkel’s tour of the country as a State visit rather than a mere working trip, thereby helping make it a reverberating success.

After a ceremonial welcome with a full guard of honour in the forecourt of the majestic presidential palace in the capital, New Delhi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel had announced that her trip would enhance strategic relations in the areas of science, business and political cooperation. That is bound to happen.

From a mere blip in the radar screen of successive German governments, India is turning to have an awe-inspiring presence as German Chancellor Angela Merkel concluded her first official visit to Delhi and Mumbai, last week.

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Indo-German relations move into high gear

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