India-Germany ties extend to AI, digitization, startups

· Need to brace ourselves against rough winds blowing: Merz

- KRISHNA BAROT

GERMAN FEDERAL CHANCELLOR Friedrich Merz and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday announced a slew of bilateral alliances, spanning defence, technology, upskilling, renewable energy, trade, investment and mobility.

These are expected to strengthen the ties between German and Indian economies, which are the thirdand fifth-largest, respectively in nominal GDP terms, with the latter to soon become the fourth-largest.

Both leaders committed to exploring newer fields to boost bilateral trade and partnerships, including SMEs, startups, digitization, artificial intelligence (AI) and innovation-driven enterprises.