German Chancellor’s India visit to scale up trade, mobility, tech partnerships

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz
| Photo Credit:
ANGELIKA WARMUTH

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s two-day India visit, starting Monday, is set to add political momentum to the India-EU FreeTrade Agreement (FTA) negotiations ahead of the bilateral summit while focussing on strengthening trade ties, securing defence deals and boosting cooperation in skill development, mobility, research, education and technology, sources said.

“Germany is India’s largest trading partner within the EU and both countries hope to gain significantly from the proposed India-EU FTA. It is expected that the German Chancellor and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will discuss ways to work around the remaining differences in the ongoing negotiations so that a substantial announcement can be made at the India-EU Summit likely in New Delhi at the end of the month,” a source tracking the matter told businessline.

Merz will be accompanied by a delegation of about 25 CEOs from top German companies and will visit Ahmedabad and Bengaluru. 

With Germany facing a labor shortage, the visit is likely to focus on  further operationalising the Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement signed in December 2022.  “There is to be a specific focus on streamlining visas for Indian healthcare workers, engineers, and IT professionals,” the source said.

Skill development

India and Germany are working on the areas for cooperation in skill development including setting up cluster-oriented structures in India. “Work is on for strengthening of industry-oriented approaches for dual VET (vocational education and training), Indo-German initiative for technical education together jointly with MSDE, BMZ & Siemens, and development of demand-oriented VET model for India,” the source said.

Potential finalisation of an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) for six advanced stealth submarines for the Indian Navy with an estimated value of $5.2 billion is also in focus. Sources pointed out that with the easing of export control and expeditious clearing of cases, defence exports from Germany to India have increased.

On Monday, the Chancellor will visit the Sabarmati Ashram and participate in the `kite festival’ following which the bilateral talks with Modi will take place.

On Tuesday, Merz is scheduled to travel to Bengaluru where he will visit the Bosch Adugodi Campus (Spark.NXT), which is Bosch’s largest R&D center outside of Germany.

With the US tariffs hurting prospects of both German and Indian companies, the two sides are keen to explore ways to increase trade and investments. “ We will also be having several business engagements which will give a further boost to India-Germany partnership,” according to the MEA.

Germany accounts for roughly one-fourth of India’s trade with the EU. Bilateral trade in goods and services reached $ 51.23 billion in 2024-25.

We have a multifaceted partnership with Germany spanning economic, trade, skill development, green partnership, cooperation in the areas of new and emerging technology, on AI, semiconductor, according to MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. 

“Germany today is also an important destination for Indian students, professionals. We recently signed a mobility partnership which has given further push to our people-to-people ties. So, we expect significant results out of this very important visit,” Jaiswal said in a recent media address.

Published on January 11, 2026