Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have decided to launch an Indo-German Partnership for Green and Sustainable Development under which Germany has decided to provide additional development assistance of €10 billion till 2030 to support India’s green growth plans.

“In Glasgow, India increased its climate ambition and showed the world that for us green and sustainable growth is an article of faith....I thank Germany and Chancellor Scholz (for the development assistance). We have decided to form a green hydrogen task force that will help increase green hydrogen infrastructure in both countries,” the Indian Prime Minister said at the sixth round of Biennial Inter Governmental Consultations (IGC) in Berlin on Monday.

Focus areas

The IGC is a unique mechanism which brings together several ministers and officials from both sides, including the two leaders, to engage in bilateral discussions on cooperation and partnership across a range of areas. The focus areas for the IGC included global security policy issues and common efforts to tackle the climate crisis.

The two sides signed a total of nine agreements during the IGC that includes renewable energy partnership, migration and mobility partnership, joint initiative on the implementation of triangular development cooperation projects in third countries and joint initiative on forest landscape restoration.

On Ukraine crisis

The PM said that India was worried about the humanitarian impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He added that right from the beginning of the conflict India had called for a stop to violence and stressed on the importance of dialogue to sort the crisis. “There will be no winners. All will suffer. That is why we favour peace,”he said.

Modi pointed out that because of the disruption caused by the crisis, oil prices were sky high and there was a shortage of food and fertiliser in the world and developing countries and poor nations were suffering the most.

“We have from our side given humanitarian aid to Ukraine,” the PM said, adding that India was also aiding other nations by exporting good grain and extending economic aid.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Foreign Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Jitendra Singh, Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office, also attended the IGC.

Expanding bilateral ties

Modi and Scholz discussed issues related to expansion of India-Germany cooperation, including trade and cultural linkages, as well as overall strategic partnership and global developments, in a one-on-one meeting and delegation level talks, also held on Monday.

Modi is on a three-day tour of Europe and will also visit Denmark and France.

Modi expressed hope that the India-EU FTA talks will progress fast on the lines of the FTA deals signed recently with the UAE and Australia, that were completed in record time. He said that India’s skilled workers and professionals had benefited the economies of several countries and the Indo-German Comprehensive Mobility and Migration Partnership being worked out will enable smooth movement of work force.

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