Overview
- At a joint press event in Ahmedabad, the leaders unveiled 27 announcements and memoranda spanning trade, skills, research and defense cooperation.
- Merz backed a swift EU–India free‑trade agreement, with officials pointing to a potential signing at a late‑January visit by EU leaders after 18 years of talks.
- Defense ties will expand through planned air force and naval exercises in the Indo‑Pacific and closer defense‑industry collaboration under newly signed intent declarations.
- A deal for six TKMS submarines to be built in Mumbai, valued around €8 billion, is described as close but remains unsigned.
- Germany highlighted growing economic and people‑to‑people links, with bilateral trade near $50 billion, about 60,000 Indian students in Germany, and rising recruitment of skilled workers, while addressing India’s ongoing energy and legacy arms ties with Russia.