Delhi, Berlin decide to enhance cooperation on innovation, tech

“Mirroring the overall deepening of the India-Germany Strategic Partnership, cooperation in these areas has become wider, deeper and more comprehensive in the face of evolving needs and skills of the two countries,” it said.

The statement said India and Germany acknowledge that digital technologies and solutions could address key development needs and highlight the potential of these digital solutions to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in other parts of the developing world.

Later, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said the leaders discussed progress on Green and Sustainable Development Partnership (GSDP), which India and Germany had launched during Modi’s visit to Berlin for the 6th IGC.

The GSDP is an umbrella partnership that provides political guidance and steer to robust ties in climate action and SDGs. Under this, Germany will also place €10 billion in new and additional commitments under their development cooperation portfolio in India. Around €983 million of new commitments were finalised during the Annual Negotiation Meeting (ANM) held on November 28 last year in Delhi.

During the IGC, India and Germany also agreed to cooperate on Green Hydrogen. The Indo-German Green Hydrogen Task Force was constituted in September 2022 and an Action Plan is close to finalisation. Kwatra said a letter of intent has been signed on Saturday.

On “Triangular Development Cooperation”, during the sixth IGC, India and Germany agreed to work on development projects in third countries. The four projects, announced in May 2022, are now in different stages of implementation:

• Cameroon: Potato Seed Production through Rooted Apical Cuttings (RAC) Technology.
• Malawi: Agri Business Incubator Models for Women in Agriculture & Food Systems
• Ghana: Developing Bamboo-Based Enterprises for Sustainable Livelihood and Income Generation in Ghana
• Peru: Development of a geospatial portal prototype for planning, monitoring, and evaluation of the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion of Peru (MIDIS) interventions and social programs.

Kwatra said they are at an “advanced stages” of implementation. On the Indo-Pacific and China’s challenge, Kwatra said the two leaders discussed the regional context in the global situation. “Naturally when we talk of regional situations, the opportunities and challenges in the Indo-Pacific form a very important constituent in framing that constituency,” he said. “They also will look at how India and Germany can cooperate, one to mitigate those challenges and two, also to harness those opportunities which exist in space and defence cooperation. Now it was a multi-pronged, multi-layered discussion on defence cooperation.”

Germany has come on board the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI). German naval frigate Bayern was on a seven-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific from August 2021 and made a port call in Mumbai on January 21.