German Foreign Minister comes to India

During his visit, the Foreign Minister will hold political talks with the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, his counterpart Sushma Swaraj as well as Human Resource Development Minister, Smriti Irani, the Minister for Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs, M. Venkaiah Naidu and the Minister for Commerce and Industry, Nirmala Sitharaman.

 

Ahead of his visit, the German Ambassador to India, Michael Steiner, welcomed the Foreign Minister’s visit and said, “Indo-German relations have always been very good and cordial. The new German and the new Indian Governments share important interests. The individual strengths of our two countries are such, that India and Germany can complement each other very well. There is huge potential in closer cooperation in several key areas, like trade, business, education, science, environment and energy. This visit will intensify Indo-German relations and help us make progress in these sectors further strengthening our bilateral ties.”

 

The Foreign Minister and the high-profile business delegation accompanying him will also hold meetings with Indian business leaders in order to boost bilateral trade and facilitate German investment. Minister Steinmeier will further on be visiting a construction site of the Delhi Metro where a German-made tunnel-drilling machine is used to take Delhi’s public transport system to a new level. The business delegation will be received by Minister of Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati and prominent business people from Andhra Pradesh.

 

Continuing to pledge support to the ‘Deutsch an 1000 Schulen’ [‘German in 1000 Schools’], Minister Steinmeier will visit a Kendriya Vidyalaya School where he will meet Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani and interact with a group of Indian pupils.

 

During his visit, Foreign Minister Steinmeier will hold talks with several Indian intellectuals and artists. The Minister will also visit Chausath Khamba in the Nizamuddin area of Delhi. The Foreign Office financially supports the restoration of the Chausath Khamba, led by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, in order to renew the beauty of this precious monument.

 

Minister Steinmeier is accompanied by a large and high-profile delegation of German Members of Parliament, business people, representatives from the cultural sector, and journalists.