India, Germany to map defence co-operation

EU FTA ON ANVIL | German Chancellor Merz stresses importance of weaning India away from Russian arms orbit

- Ashwin Ahmad

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz who arrived on Monday morning at Ahmedabad for an official two-day visit, stated that his priorities included finalising the long-negotiated India-EU FTA agreement and pulling India away from Russian arms and equipment.

“We need to strengthen our defence industries and the cooperation of our defence industries. This has strategic significance, as this means India is less dependent on Russia,” the German Chancellor said in a joint address with Prime Minister Modi.

India and Germany released a joint statement after the meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Chancellor Merz. On the defence front, the statement said that both sides had agreed to a Joint Declaration of Intent to develop a Defence Industrial Cooperation Roadmap to promote long-term industry-level collaboration, which included “technology partnerships, co-development, and co-production of defence platforms and equipment.”