New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday (May 2) inked the Joint Declaration of Intent (JDI), seeking to establish the Green and Sustainable Development Partnership.
This JDI will create a Ministerial mechanism within the framework of the Inter-Governmental Consultations to provide high-level coordination and political direction to the Partnership, an MEA statement said.
The pact was signed at the end of the Plenary session.
This Partnership envisages a whole-of-government approach to India-Germany cooperation on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate action, under which Germany has agreed to make an advance commitment of 10 billion Euros of new and additional development assistance until 2030.
External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar inked pacts with Svenja Schulze, German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
Among others, one agreement was on the establishing exchange and mutual protection of classified information, and another was on establishing a direct encrypted connection between MEA and the German Foreign Office.
There was an Indo-German Development Cooperation and Renewable Energy Partnership.
There was a Joint Declaration on the Initialing of the Agreement on a Comprehensive Migration and Mobility Partnership inked by Vinay Kwatra, Foreign Secretary and Mahmut Oezdemir, Parliamentary St. Secretary, Ministry of Interior.
Anurag Jain, Secretary Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade State Secretary Udo Philip, Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, also inked papers.
There was also a virtual signing of the Indo-German Green Hydrogen Task Force by R.K. Singh, Minister of Power and Robert Habeck, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar signed one agreement, and Bhupender Yadav, Minister of Environment Forest & Climate Change and Steffi Lemke, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, inked one agreement on Forest Landscape Restoration.
Prime Minister Modi also co-chaired a Business Round Table with Chancellor Scholz. In his remarks, the Prime Minister emphasised the government’s broad-based reforms and highlighted the growing numbers of start-ups and unicorns in India. He invited the business leaders to invest in India’s youth.
The event saw the participation of high representatives from the Governments and selected CEOs from both sides, who engaged in discussions on topics ranging from climate cooperation, Supply chains, and Research and Development.
Sanjiv Bajaj was the Head of the Indian Delegation. He is President-Designate, CII Chairman Managing Director of Bajaj Finserv.
The German Business Delegation comprised Roland Busch, Head of German Delegation, President and CEO, Siemens and Chairman, Asia Pacific Committee of German Business; Martin Brudermüller, Chairman BASF; Herbert Diess, Chairman Volkswagen; Stefan Hartung, Bosch; Marika Lulay, GFT Technologies; Klaus Rosenfeld, Chief Executive Officer, Schaeffler; Christian Sewing, Deutsche Bank; and Jürgen Zeschky, Chief Executive Officer, ENERCON.
The Prime Minister addressed and interacted with the Indian community in Germany at the Theatre, Potsdamer Platz, Berlin. More than 1600 members of the vibrant Indian community in Germany, consisting of students, researchers and professionals, participated in the event.
PM Modi noted their contribution to Germany’s economy and society and enthused them to contribute to India’s ‘Vocal for Local’ initiative by promoting Indian products globally.
