Economic cooperation on mind, German Chancellor Merkel heads to India

BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel today spoke of India as a large and highly dynamic nation which presented "never-ending possibilities" for cooperation.

In her weekly Internet video address three days before leaving for New Delhi at the start of an Asian tour, Merkel said that the first inter-governmental consultations at the cabinet level will be the main highlight of her India visit.

This comes over a decade after the two countries took their relationship to a higher level by agreeing on a strategic partnership.

Merkel told an interviewer that she will be taking along with her five cabinet ministers and representatives of several ministries for the Indo-German consultations.

Her visit will also mark the 60th anniversary of the "successful diplomatic relations" between the two countries.

In addition, she will attend the opening of the 'Year of Germany in India' with a concert in New Delhi.

"The theme of this event speaks for the never-ending possibilities for cooperation between Germany and India," she said.

"This time really there are several reasons for my travel to India," she said.

In the field of bilateral cooperation, the chancellor referred to Germany's two-pronged approach to promote India's economic and social development by fostering industries and by assisting the government in combating poverty.

Industrial development-oriented economic cooperation between the two countries in the past decades has been progressing so well that the two countries have now become competitors in certain markets, she said.