India, Germany decide to shore up defence and energy ties amid West Asia crisis

India and Germany have decided to shore up their cooperation in areas of defence, green hydrogen, renewable energy and critical and emerging technologies amid increasing geopolitical upheavals such as the West Asia crisis.

The two sides deliberated on ways to expand their engagement at a meeting held under the framework of India-Germany Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) that was co-chaired by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and State Secretary of German Foreign Ministry Geza Andreas von Geyr.

The Indian and the German sides also exchanged views on the West Asia conflict as well as the Russia-Ukraine war.


The meeting took place on Tuesday in Berlin.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Wednesday that the discussions provided an opportunity to the two sides to take stock of the current status of bilateral relations and explore avenues for further deepening the India-Germany strategic partnership.

"Both sides undertook a comprehensive review of the full spectrum of India-Germany bilateral relations, including trade and investment, defence and security, technology, green and sustainable development, mobility, and people to people exchanges," it said.

"They agreed to further deepen and diversify cooperation in areas of contemporary relevance, including critical and emerging technologies, defence, industrial collaboration, digital governance, renewable energy, green hydrogen, innovation, and development cooperation in third countries," the MEA said in a statement.

It said the two sides also exchanged views on key regional and global developments including the situation in West Asia and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Foreign Secretary Misri also interacted with senior foreign policy experts, members of Parliament, and senior officials from Federal and State governments of Germany at Korber Foundation.

"The discussions were held in a cordial and friendly atmosphere. The visit of the foreign secretary followed the visit of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to India in January, which gave significant momentum to bilateral ties," the MEA said.

"The visit also helped advance ongoing cooperation across key priority areas and explore substantive outcomes for the next India-Germany Inter-Governmental Consultations scheduled later this year," it said.