Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a meeting with German Federal Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius here on Tuesday, during which the two ministers reviewed the ongoing bilateral defence cooperation activities and explored ways to enhance the collaboration, especially the defence industrial partnership.
Singh highlighted the opportunities that have opened up in the defence production sector, including the possibilities for German investments in the two Defence Industrial Corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
A Defence Ministry official said that the Indian defence industry could participate in the supply chains of the German defence industry and add value to the ecosystem, besides contributing to supply chain resilience.
As per the ministry, Singh stressed that India and Germany could build a more symbiotic relationship based on shared goals and complementarity of strength like skilled workforce and mutual strengths like skilled workforce and competitive costs from India and technologies and investment from Germany.
India and Germany have had a strategic partnership since 2000, which is being strengthened through inter-governmental consultations since 2011 at the level of heads of government.Senior officials from the Ministry of Defence, including Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane and Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, participated in the delegation-level meeting.
This was the first visit of a German Defence Minister to India since 2015. The bilateral meeting was preceded by a tri-service guard of honour to the visiting dignitary.Pistorius will also interact with some Indian defence startups at IIT Delhi during an event organised by Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX).
The German minister arrived in India on June 5 on a four-day visit. On Wednesday, he will be travelling to Mumbai, where he is scheduled to visit the headquarters of the Western Naval Command and the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited.