Berlin, May 24: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar shared his remarks on how India and Germany can upgrade their ties as the two countries mark 25 years of their strategic partnership. He offered suggestions on collaboration in several areas to take the ties ahead.

EAM Jaishankar made the remarks while speaking at the DGAP's Centre for Geopolitics, Geoeconomics and technology.

EAM Jaishankar said in his speech that his visit comes as the two countries are celebrating 25 years of their strategic partnership.

He said, "To be here early in the tenure of this government, so that we really lose no time in forging a pathway towards taking after 25 years to look at the next 25 years and see where we can take our relationship".

Listing down the challenges which the modern world has brought forth, such as the chips war, climate change, poverty, damage done by the COVID pandemic, amongst others.

EAM expressed confidence in the India-Germany ties to face them. He said, "The global picture is very challenging... for that I would argue that the partnership between India and Germany, and India and the European Union, of which Germany is a crucial and invaluable member, has acquired an importance and a salience much more than it has had before".

Sharing his engagements in Germany, EAM noted that the time is ripe to think about the next 25 years and how we can fully realise the potential of India-Germany ties.

Sharing his thoughts on what can be done to upgrade the relationship, EAM listed down areas of collaboration. The first area he highlighted was "A good start would be defence and security. We've had sort of an off and on relationship here. There have been times decades ago when there were actually active defence ties between us. Then for whatever reason, there's a certain conservatism about taking it forward. But I have seen that in the last few years, once again, there is a realization in both countries that there is something that we have to offer to each other. And the defence and security of both countries would be very much stronger through our cooperation. And we see this reflected. We see this reflected in exercises in the visits of German ships to the Indo-Pacific and to Indian ports. We see it reflected in enhanced export licensing practices, in discussions whether there can be further technology and equipment collaboration between our countries."

The second area he brought to attention was talent and mobility to meet demand and demographics. He highlighted that India's demographic curve is in the right place to fashion a global workforce.

The third area was technology and digital AI, and the fourth area being sustainability and green growth. He expressed optimism for trade ties to grow between the two countries and an FTA with the EU would help in that regard.

He also shared the snippets from the event in a post on X. "A good interaction @dgapev this evening. Spoke about India and Germany coming closer to promote global stability, security and prosperity. Discussed new opportunities in the bilateral relationship, as well as with the European Union. Preparing for a stronger partnership in a multipolar world."

(ANI)

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