German Minister Altmaier and Indian Minister Jaishankar Underline Aim to Expand Indo-German Trade
India
The German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier and the External Affairs Minister of India Dr Jaishankar met in Berlin on 18 February to discuss trade and investment opportunities between India, Germany and the EU. Minister Altmaier emphasised the aim to further expand the trade relations with India. He highlighted the cooperation between both countries on strengthening the rules-based international trade order. Within the purview of this minister Altmaier mentioned the reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the resumption of the negotiations of the India-EU Free Trade Agreement as two key aspects.
The meeting between the two ministers followed the 5th Indo-German Inter-Governmental Consultations which took place in Delhi on 1 November 2019. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had reaffirmed their commitment to bilateral technical and economic cooperation and expressed their appreciation for the close cooperation within the Indo-German Working Group on Quality Infrastructure.
EU-India trade relations will be further discussed at the upcoming 15th EU-India Summit which takes place on 13 March 2020 in Brussels.
Please find the BMWi press release on the meeting here (only available in German).