Overview
- Chancellor Friedrich Merz was received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad, visiting a Gandhi ashram and a kite festival before formal talks.
- Talks center on expanding economic ties and defense collaboration, with India’s relationship with Russia identified as the most sensitive topic.
- A roughly €8 billion Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems deal to build six submarines in Mumbai is reported to be nearing completion.
- Prospects for concluding a long-running EU–India free-trade agreement remain uncertain ahead of a planned late-January summit in New Delhi.
- Germany is intensifying recruitment of Indian skilled workers, with the number employed in Germany rising from about 25,000 in 2015 to about 170,000 in 2025.