Key Points

"Our economies, in particular, have a lot to gain if we are to expand our cooperation further. I was in Bengaluru yesterday, and I saw for myself what an innovative powerhouse and technology centre India has become," Johann Wadephul said in a joint press conference with Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar.

Johann Wadephul further emphasised India's "special and strategic" importance in the world.

"As a rising economic powerhouse and the most populous country and biggest democracy in the world, India has a special importance in a world region that is of strategic importance," he said.

Wadephul and S Jaishankar also discussed international challenges during the bilateral meeting. The German Foreign Minister stated that they expressed concern about China's increasingly aggressive behaviour and aim to expand cooperation in the areas of defence, security, and armaments.

India and Germany are united by the objective to preserve the rules-based international order, and that includes the freedom of maritime trade routes in the Indo-Pacific. China's increasingly aggressive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific is a cause for concern for both our countries. More generally, we aim to expand further our cooperation in the areas of defence, security and armament," he said.

"We talked about this today. Be that through the common exercise of our forces or speeding up the granting of the export license process for the Indo-Pacific engagement of last year's German frigate made a port call in India. We also talked about the fact that security in the Indo-Pacific is closely linked to security in Europe. Russia's war of aggression is right now and remains right now the biggest challenge to our security policy," he added.

Speaking about India hosting the AI Summit, Wadephul said that it is a demonstration of New Delhi's "ambition" to be among the frontrunners in the area of new technology.

"India is going to host the next AI Summit is a demonstration of India's ambition and claim to be in the vanguard among the frontrunners in the area of new technology too." he said.

Speaking on the bilateral trade, the German Foreign Minister said, "India and Germany are already playing in the Premier League. Germany, with little under 31 billion euros of trade, has India as its most important trading partner. We aim to double that, and I'm pleased to see that India takes a similarly positive and optimistic view of the chances for that."

Wadephul is on a two-day visit to India, during which he took a look at India's growing prowess in the technology sector in Bengaluru. He also held key delegation-level meetings with EAM S Jaishankar and Union Minister of Commerce Piyush Goyal.

- ANI