Immense scope for India-Germany synergy: Shringla

Tribune News Service
NEW DELHI, November 2

India has sought to position itself as a reliable partner for Germany at a time when the Indo-Pacific region has begun to occupy an important place in Berlin’s strategic outlook.

In his interaction with think-tanks in Germany in the last leg of his three-nation European tour, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla pointed out that German companies could find in India everything that they were looking for.

India is one of the fastest growing economies, the fourth largest start-up ecosystem with 21 unicorns, and a large and growing market. Its rapidly growing digital sector has one of the largest data ecosystems in the world and has a major focus on adopting the principles of Industry 4.0, AI, etc. These are all high on the priority list for the German industry and provide immense scope for collaboration, suggested the Foreign Secretary.

Germany has invested heavily in China which was reflected in frequent visits to Beijing by its Chancellor Angela Merkel. Shringla argued that the pandemic had given the space for realignment to countries and regions, which would emerge as the prime-movers of the global growth engine and would shape the global governance architecture of the future. In this regard, India could not be left on the periphery of any such analysis.

Among measures that the government has taken recently are greater liberalisation for MSMEs and enhancing their ability to access finance and to grow. Germany’s “Mittelstand” is both a role model and a natural partner for India’s SME sector, he said.

In India, he said, key indicators have turned positive. Peak power demand is higher over last year, rail freight is returning to normal levels and e-way bills are 15 per cent higher than last year.