The Foreign Minister has announced that she wants to intensify cooperation with India. Upon her arrival in the capital, New Delhi, she laid rose petals in a ceremony in honor of the Indian freedom fighter.
At the beginning of her two-day inaugural visit to India, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock commemorated the freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi. Shortly after her arrival in the capital, New Delhi, she and her delegation arrived at the Gandhi Smriti Memorial on Monday morning. There it is customary to lay rose petals in a ceremony. This is where Gandhi last lived and was shot dead by a Hindu extremist in 1948. Following the ceremony, Baerbock is scheduled to meet with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Monday.
With the gesture, Baerbock also wanted to set an example for human rights. The fact that India had succeeded “in the past 15 years in liberating more than 400 million people – almost as many as there are people in the EU – from absolute poverty is impressive,” the minister said before she left. “It shows that social plurality, freedom and democracy are a motor for economic development, peace and stability.” Working on this together with the strengthening of human rights, “that is also our task,” stressed Baerbock.
The Minister had also announced in advance that she wanted to further intensify cooperation with India. Their talks would focus on “the most urgent tasks of our time – containing the climate crisis and maintaining our rules-based international order”. The visit takes place against the background of the Russian war against Ukraine and its consequences as well as China’s increasingly aggressive international stance.
India as a counterweight to China
Germany as well as the USA and other Western countries rely on India as a counterbalance to the increasingly aggressive China – and as a business partner with huge market potential. India will overtake China as the most populous country in the world as early as next year, said Baerbock. And added: “There is no doubt that India will decisively influence the shaping of the international order in the 21st century – in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.” India took over the presidency of the G20 group of leading industrialized and emerging countries on Thursday.
As an up-and-coming economic power “and a well-established democracy, India – despite all the internal social challenges – is both a role model and a bridge builder for many countries in the world. And a natural partner for Germany,” said the Foreign Minister.
Baerbock also wants to sign a mobility agreement in India. It is intended to make it easier for the citizens of both countries to study, research and work in the other country.