Scholz in India: German chancellor, PM Modi to hold wide-ranging talks to bolster ties

New Delhi: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Friday hold wide-ranging discussions with a focus on bolstering bilateral strategic ties in several key areas.

Scholz arrived in Delhi late on Thursday as part of his three-day official visit to India. He was received by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai.

Shortly after his arrival, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) greeted Scholz in German and shared pictures on X.

"Herzlich willkommen in Neu Delhi! @Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz of Germany lands in New Delhi for the 7th Intergovernmental Consultations and the 18th Asia Pacific Conference of German Business (APK 2024). Warmly received with a ceremonial welcome by MoS for Home affairs @nityanandraibjp," it said.

The MEA had earlier said in a statement that Scholz would pay an official visit to India from October 24-26 at the invitation of Modi.

The two leaders will hold wide-ranging talks with a focus on boosting bilateral strategic ties, including in areas of defence, trade and clean energy.

On Friday, Modi and Scholz will co-chair the seventh Intergovernmental Consultations (IGC) at Hyderabad House.

The IGC is a whole-of-government framework under which ministers from both sides hold discussions in their respective areas of responsibility and report on the outcome of their deliberations to the prime minister and the chancellor.

The IGC is a biannual exercise. The last IGC was held in Berlin in May 2022. The German-Indian Green and Sustainable Development Partnership (GSDP) was agreed upon in the meeting between Modi and Scholz.

German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck, who arrived ahead of Scholz, spoke to reporters on the importance of the 18th Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business, which will be held on Friday and Saturday in Delhi.

Habeck also thanked Scholz and Modi ahead of them addressing the event.

Ambassador Philipp Ackermann, during a media interaction at his residence on Wednesday, said "we will have a big basket of things" that would be discussed on Friday when the chancellor and several federal ministers of Germany would be in New Delhi.

The German Cabinet recently adopted a key document -- "Focus on India" -- for which all the ministries and departments came together and agreed on how to "elevate" the bilateral relations to the "next level", the country's envoy had also said.

The India-Germany relationship is based on "tremendous amount" of trust, friendship and shared responsibility, bringing both countries forward as well as making contribution to the world, and the visit of Chancellor Scholz is in line with it, Uwe Gehlen, head of development cooperation at the German Embassy in India, told PTI in September.