"Top German politicians have a new favorite travel destination: India. Following the recent visit by Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, Chancellor Friedrich Merz is heading to New Delhi on Sunday with a larger delegation. The reasons for Germany's heightened interest in the world's most populous country (India has about 1.45 billion people) are both economic and geopolitical: According to a prognosis from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development , the Indian economy will grow significantly more than China's this year."
"Germany is also desperately looking for skilled workers and is finding more and more of them in India. Meanwhile, Indians have become the largest group of foreign students at German universities. "India's strengths are primarily in the services sector," said Christian Wagner, India specialist at the Berlin-based German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). "India serves as the office of the global economy. China, on the other hand, is more like the factory of the global economy.""
Top German political leaders are increasingly prioritizing relations with India for economic and geopolitical reasons. OECD projections forecast Indian economic growth exceeding China’s this year. Germany has endured nearly three years of recession and faces acute shortages of skilled workers, with many recruits coming from India. Indians now form the largest group of foreign students at German universities. India’s strengths are concentrated in services, evolving from call centers to research facilities, and many German companies have outsourced research to India. Bilateral trade reached €29 billion in 2024, still far below Germany’s roughly €246 billion trade volume with China.
Read at www.dw.com
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