He said both India and Germany would like India-EU free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations to move to a decisive conclusion soon.
Amid the ongoing tariff tensions between New Delhi and Washington, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar asserted on Wednesday that India and Germany would work towards doubling the bilateral trade.
He said both India and Germany would like India-EU free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations to move to a decisive conclusion soon.
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Addressing a press conference with visiting German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, Jaishankar said, “Our conversations and our negotiations predate anything which has happened this year. It’s in our mutual interest that we lower tariffs and find other ways of expanding our business and economic cooperation.”
“Obviously, in today’s climate, those efforts acquire a greater urgency. I share the Minister’s desire and optimism that we would like the FTA negotiations, another round, to take place fairly soon. We would like this to move to a decisive conclusion in the coming days and we believe that this would be in our mutual interest. It will help stabilise the global economy. It will be a big factor there. It will be one of the elements of ballast which today the world economy really needs,” the External Affairs Minister said.
Bilateral trade has grown significantly over the past decade between India and Germany, reaching a record high of around $33.4 billion (28 billion euros) in 2024.
During the press briefing, Jaishankar said in one of his earlier interviews, his German counterpart had said he was very confident that “we would be doubling our trade” with India. “Let me assure him that India fully reciprocates that sentiment. We look forward to working with the German government towards this. I want to reiterate that we remain fully committed to continuously improving the ease of doing business in this country. I assured the minister today that any concerns those German companies may have in India – coming to India, establishing them, working here -we would be prepared to give it special attention,” the External Affairs Minister stressed.
He further said that the “changes we see in the world today do influence our policies and do influence the manner in which we approach other countries”.
“We’re also seeing a lot of volatility on the global economic landscape, and I think together, they make a very powerful case for India and the European Union (EU) and India and Germany to work much more closely with each other. This is a relationship where there are considerable possibilities for fairly rapid growth,” EAM Jaishankar highlighted, adding that there are big changes underway in the world which “make a very compelling case for a deeper, stronger, wider India-German relationship,” he added.
Calling India Germany’s key economic trading partner, Wadephul pointed out that more than 200 German companies are active in the country. He described India as a “rising economic powerhouse” with a “special importance” on the global stage, reaffirming Berlin’s full support for finalising the FTA between India and the European Union.
“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, 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,” Wadephul said.
He noted that both countries need to make it easier for each other to engage in their respective markets. “Sometimes, we could make it easier for the other side to engage in the respective market, and we’ve underlined that in our discussions today, and I think we both have our homework to do in that regard,” the German minister added.
On the trade, he stressed that India is already Germany’s biggest partner in South Asia, and Berlin is looking to double the current trade volume. “With little under 31 billion euros of trade, India is our 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 added.
