German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, who is on a visit to New Delhi, hailed India’s tech prowess, saying that Germany stands to gain from further expanding cooperation. Wadephul said that India is an economic powerhouse and the two nations will work to strengthen their ties. German Foreign Minister Wadephul said that India is going to host the next AI Summit is a demonstration of India’s ambition and claim to be in the vanguard among the frontrunners in the area of new technology too.
Germany On India’s Tech Leap
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said that India will be at the forefront among the frontrunners in a whole host of areas including area of AI and aerospace. “Today, we talked about the potential for further enhancing our cooperation in the field of aerospace and space, AI, where we both believe the need to set up norms, rules and values that we will be talking about here too. With the EU AI Act, the EU has presented an important first building block in that regard,” he said.
The minister hailed India’s tech advancements. “I saw for myself what an innovative powerhouse and technology centre India has become…As a rising economic powerhouse and the most populous country and biggest democracy in the world, India has a special importance in a world region that is of strategic importance. Our economies, in particular, have a lot to gain if we are to further expand our cooperation. I was in Bengaluru yesterday, and I saw for myself what an innovative powerhouse and technology centre India has become…” said German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul.
Wadephul On Ukraine War
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said that during meeting with Russian President Putin, Prime Minister Modi pointed to the need for a speedy peace agreement in Ukraine, which has been important to Germany as well. “We Europeans are doing our best, working with our American and Ukrainian friends to ensure that this war ends soon. I know that we don’t always see 100% eye to eye with our Indian friends, and this is why I spoke out in favour today that India uses its relations with Russia to point to the need to make peace return to Europe and I’m grateful for the open discussion we had here today. Peace is the basis for security, freedom, and prosperity. Security is and will remain a challenge for the future,” he said.
On Trade Ties With India
Wadephul said that India and Germany are already playing in the Premier League when it comes to bilateral trade. “Germany, with little under 31 billion euros of trade, has India as its most important trading partner. We aim to double that and I’m pleased to see that India takes a similarly positive and optimistic view of the chances for that,” he said.
“India equals Asia for us and Germany and the European Union in a way are equivalent for India. India plays a very important part, and though we both have our own political positions and political priorities but when it comes to democratic principles and regulatory steps, both our countries and both our markets tend to be very diligent and adherent to certain details,” said the German minister.
China, Other International Challenges
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said that India and Germany spoke about international challenges besides bilateral trade. India and Germany are united by the objective to preserve the rules-based international order and that includes the freedom of maritime trade routes in the Indo-Pacific. “China’s increasingly aggressive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific is a cause for concern for both our countries. More generally, we aim to further expand our cooperation in the areas of defence, security and armament. We talked about this today. Be that through the common exercise of our forces or speeding up the granting of the export license process for the Indo-Pacific engagement of last year’s German frigate made a port call in India. We also talked about the fact that security in the Indo-Pacific is closely linked to security in Europe. Russia’s war of aggression is right now and remains right now the biggest challenge to our security policy,” said Wadephul.
