New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz today co-chaired the sixth edition of the India-Germany Inter-Governmental Consultations-IGC in Berlin.
The biennial IGC is a unique dialogue format that also sees participation of several Ministers from both sides. This was the Prime Minister’s first IGC with Chancellor Scholz and also the first such Government-to-Government consultations of the ne German Government, which assumed office in December last year.
Earlier, Prime Minister Modi held bilateral discussions with the German Chancellor. Both leaders reviewed the full range of bilateral ties between India and Germany, including giving an impetus to trade as well as cultural linkages. Mr Modi was given a ceremonial welcome at the Federal Chancellery.
In the joint press statement following the discussions, Prime Minister Modi said, as democracies, India and Germany share common values. He said that based on these shared values and common interests, India – Germany bilateral relations have made remarkable progress over the years. On the Ukraine crisis, Mr Modi said, India has from the very beginning called for ceasefire as it believes dialogue is the only way forward. He said, no party can emerge victorious out of this conflict and therefore, India supports peace. He said, India is very concerned about the humanitarian impact of this war.
Mr Modi thanked Chancellor Scholz for the warm welcome accorded to him. He expressed happiness that his first foregn visit this year was to Germany. Prime Minister Modi said, the Inter-Governmental Consultations held today has given new direction to India-Germany Partnership. He informed that Germany has committed to support Green Goal Plans of India.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz invited Prime Minister Modi for G-7 summit to be held in Germany. He said, India’s role is important in global economy and climate change talks. He said, the world can only develop, if futue relations are characterised and marked by many countries and not by a few powerful countries.
Prime Minister Modi and Chancellor Scholz signed the Joint Declaration of Intent establishing the Green and Sustainable Development Partnership. This Partnership envisages a whole-of-government approach to India-Germany cooperation on 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. This JDI will also create a Ministerial mechanism within the framework of the IGC to provide high-level coordination and political direction to the Partnership. A number of agreements were concluded during the Ministerial bilateral meetings.
In a joint statement adopted after the Inter-Governmental Consultations, both India and Germany underlined the importance of an effective rules-based international order with the United Nations and the fundamental principles of international law, including respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states. They reaffirmed determination to strengthen and reform multilateralism to tackle current and future challenges, to defend peace and stability globally, to bolster international law and to defend the fundamental principles of peaceful settlement of conflicts and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.
Both leaders highlighted their commitment to an economic recovery from the COVID pandemic. They underlined their firm commitment to the objective of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. India and Germany welcomed the deepening of the strategic cooperation between India and the EU. Germany and India expressed their serious concern about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and unequivocally condemned civilian deaths there.
On Afghanistan, both sides expressed their serious concern about the humanitarian situation, the resurgence of violence, including targeted terrorist attacks, the systemic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms and the hampered access of girls and women to education.
