Openings in post-Merkel Germany

Sunday's election in Germany may not have yielded a clear winner, but it marks the end of the Angela Merkel era. Her 16 years as chancellor have seen a quiet transformation of the country. Merkel has come to symbolise reliability, responsibility, stability and coherence. These qualities have helped lay the groundwork for a Germany that is no longer reluctant to engage with the world and show leadership.

Merkel is the first woman to have been elected chancellor, let alone serve four consecutive terms. She is of the generation of reunification politicians - Merkel was raised in East Germany. Merkel heralded many radical shifts domestically, on shifting out of coal and nuclear on the energy front to welcoming refugees from another part of the world and another culture into Germany. To begin with, Merkel embodied the post-war reluctance to engage with the world, but she inherited the legacy of German involvement in Kosovo, and went along with Nato into Afghanistan. Merkel laid the groundwork for strengthening multilateral character of the EU, and of Germany's engagements with the world. From traditional German fiscal conservatism, she dragged her legislators to support the new EU borrowing to help member countries cope with the pandemic-induced economic harm. Merkel emerged as a key figure within Europe but never put Germany at the head of the pack, despite being the largest economy on the continent. She was 'Mutti', mother, to a generation of Germans.

As Europe is forced, after the US pivot to Asia, to find its own geopolitical identity, it is useful for India to engage with Germany, along with France, and with the EU, on political and strategic affairs, and not just on trade and investment. And it would be useful to be proactive.