Riders in a gala uniform escort the Chancellor's limousine the last few meters to the arrival - something that Angela Merkel does not experience so often. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the German Chancellor appreciate each other. Criticism yes, but above all more economic cooperation - that was the key message of Angela Merkel at the fifth German-Indian intergovernmental consultations in New Delhi.
Kashmir, internment camp for forcibly expelled citizens, Germany wants to be India's close partner when Modi builds his 'new India'. There are grave human rights abuses and democratic deficits in the self proclaimed largest democracy in the world. But only on demand and only in front of German journalists Merkel addresses them publicly. The situation of the people in Kashmir, who were curfewed overnight, was "not sustainable and not good" and had to be "certainly improved," says the Chancellor. That's enough to spark a storm of indignation in social networks in India.
Criticism behind the scenes
Even behind the scenes, Merkel addressed Kashmir and thus lived up to her image as 'Leader of the free world'. But during talks with Prime Minister Modi, Angela Merkel's main concern was to pave the way for India's possible free trade agreement with the EU. The talks have been well advanced, and there is hope that Modi will risk a fresh start in his second term.
Cleverly, Merkel avoids linking economic interests and human rights issues. Nonetheless, she does not let Prime Minister Modi get away with it. Because at home in Germany, it has not been rumored with all the winds of the grand coalition to its own survival: Germany is not only in a global economic, but increasingly in a system competition. The fear of being smashed in the trade war between the US and China is being dealt with in Europe. You do not have to explain that in Asia. The Indians know this, and are confident that a strengthening India is increasingly becoming an attractive ally for the West.
Partner without the necessary fighting weight
But it is an India that is full of potential, yet simply does not stand up to any comparison with China. If both countries were quite economically comparable before the 1990s, China today generates five times the Indian gross national product, with almost the same population. While Modi is still busy putting a toilet in the garden for every Indian family, China is busily forging ahead with its geopolitical dreams for the future.
But it is an India that is full of potential, yet simply does not stand up to any comparison with China. If both countries were quite economically comparable before the 1990s, China today generates five times the Indian gross national product, with almost the same population. While Modi is still busy putting a toilet in the garden for every Indian family, China is busily forging ahead with its geopolitical dreams for the future.
DW Capital correspondent Michaela Küfner
Modi also dreams of India's new role in the arena of world politics. But he still lacks the necessary economic weight to play beyond the status of a nuclear power among the very big. Merkel is well received when she hopes for a "win-win" relationship, which could be the case if the 22 signed bilateral documents of the last three days, in spite of the bureaucracies on both sides, give real new impulses A country like India, not least because of which it is necessary to secure the status quo of Germany in the world, is obvious here.
But even on the return flight to Berlin, it is very soon back to the disputes of the Grand Coalition and a compromise on the ground rent. Seamlessly the conversations of the journalists change the altitude. Then there is the rumor that the Indians intend to name after Angela Merkel still visited a solar-powered metro station in New Delhi after her departure. It's also a terminus - like (un) fitting.
Post a Comment