Name: India-Germany ties: What New Delhi expects from Berlin
Uploaded: 2026-01-11T18:37:57.444Z
Duration: 3 min 34 s
Description: As Chancellor Friedrich Merz visits India, New Delhi is seeking deeper trade, defence and technology cooperation with Germany amid shifting global alliances.

As Chancellor Friedrich Merz visits India, New Delhi is seeking deeper trade, defence and technology cooperation with Germany amid shifting global alliances.

New Delhi

India views Germany as a key partner for economic growth, technology transfer, and defense modernization, with over 2,000 German companies already operating in the country. Recent developments indicate a willingness from Germany to expand defense cooperation, including building submarines for the Indian navy, as India aims to diversify its military suppliers and reduce reliance on Russia.

Both nations are also responding to global uncertainties, particularly regarding US foreign policy and China's growing influence. While India sees China as a direct security threat and Germany depends on China for trade, both countries are working to deepen their partnership and are expected to finalize a long-awaited bilateral trade agreement with the European Union.

India-Germany ties: What New Delhi expects from Berlin

Life buzzes at Connaught Place. It's the historic commercial and social heart of India's capital. For many here, India's relationship with Germany is mainly about business and technology transfer. India is growing. We are still growing. And Germany is already an established country. So there is a lot of advanced technology. I am from construction line. All new construction technologies are from Germany. So German means innovation and new. India can have a lot of defence equipments and heavy engineering from Germany. I mean German technology considers as a brand. India sees Germany as Europe's economic powerhouse. It wants more engagement and investment from Germany. More than 2,000 German companies already operate here, including heavyweights like Continental, Bosch and Mercedes-Benz. But there is plenty of room for more, as defence cooperation has only recently emerged as a major factor. For India, Germany offers the chance to diversify and upgrade its military hardware, reducing its reliance on Russia. Germany has been hesitant to sell weapons to India, at least in part due to those close ties with Russia. But this has been changing, and India is increasingly seen as a trusted partner with shared values and strategic interests. Germany is now even willing to build submarines for India's navy in India. Across the globe, alliances are under strain. Both India and Germany tread carefully when it comes to the United States under Donald Trump. Trump's foreign policy decisions, from punitive tariffs to Ukraine to Venezuela, have delivered rude awakenings for both Prime Minister Modi and German Chancellor Merz. But neither can do without US economic and military power. Both India and Germany are aware of China's growing assertiveness, especially in the Indo-Pacific, with its critical supply chains. Both want a rules-based, multilateral world, not one carved up by Washington and Beijing, where might is right. That's why they are both keen to deepen what they already have. But there are sticking points. For India, China is a direct security threat. The two Asian giants share a long contested border. For Germany, China remains its top trading partner, around eight times as big as India. On the other hand, India maintains a close relationship with Russia, which poses the biggest security challenge to the European Union because of its invasion of Ukraine. Despite those tricky points, Modi and Merz will be keen to show closeness and cooperation during this visit. Sources have told me that Modi's invitation to Merz to visit his home base in Gujarat rather than here in Delhi is a sign of appreciation. And Merz coming to India as Chancellor before visiting China is seen as symbolic. He also represents the European Union to a certain degree. And India and the EU are very likely to sign a bilateral trade agreement, two decades in the making, at the end of January. At a time when the global order is losing its old certainties, India, Germany and by extension the EU are more than partners of choice or convenience. In the era of Donald Trump, they simply need each other.

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