German Chancellor Scholz to visit India on Feb 25-26

NEW DELHI: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will be on a State visit to India on February 25 and 26, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a press release today.

Chancellor Scholz will be accompanied by senior officials and a high-powered business delegation. He is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi on February 25 and will proceed to Bengaluru on February 26, the MEA press release said.

This is the first standalone visit of a German Chancellor to India since the biennial Inter-Governmental Consultation (IGC) mechanism commenced in 2011, which is a whole-of-government framework under which Ministers from both countries hold discussions in their respective areas of responsibility and report on the outcome of discussions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chancellor Scholz, read the release.

Scholz will be accorded a ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhawan. Prime Minister and Chancellor will hold discussions on bilateral, regional and global issues.

The two Leaders will also interact with CEOs and business leaders of both sides. Scholz will also call on President Droupadi Murmu, added the release. The India-Germany Strategic Partnership is underpinned by shared values, trust and mutual understanding.

Robust investment and trade linkages, cooperation in green and sustainable development and growing people-to-people ties have strengthened bilateral relations, it said.

India and Germany also work closely at multilateral and international platforms, notably as part of the G4 for UNSC reforms.

Chancellor Scholz's visit will enable both sides to take stock and progress on the key outcomes of the 6th IGC, strengthen security and defence cooperation, work towards closer economic ties, enhance opportunity for mobility of talent and give strategic guidance to ongoing collaboration in Science & Technology, added the release.

Recently, Scholz quoted External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's viral "European mindset" remark during the Munich Security Conference.

Jaishankar, during the 17th edition of the GLOBSEC Bratislava Forum in Slovakia last year, savagely replied to a question on India's stand in the Russia-Ukraine war, and said, "Europe has to grow out of the mindset that Europe's problems are the world's problems, but the world's problems are not Europe's problems."

The context was used by the German Chancellor on Friday during the Munich Security Conference as he suggested a change in the so-called "mindset" and said that Jaishankar has "a point".

"This quote from the Indian Foreign Minister is included in this year's Munich Security Report and he has a point it wouldn't be Europe'sproblem alone if the law of the strong were to assert itself in international relations," Scholz said.

He also said that to be a credible European or North American in Jakarta, New Delhi, it is not enough to emphasize shared values. "We have to generally address the interests and concerns of these countries as a basic prerequisite for joint action.

And that's why it was so important to me to not merely have representatives of Asia, Africa and Latin America at the negotiating table during the G Seven Summit last June.

I really wanted to work with these regions to find solutions to the main challenges they face growing poverty and hunger, partly as a consequence of Russia's war, as well as the impact of climate change or COVID-19," he added.