German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrives in Delhi to boost bilateral ties

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived here on Thursday as part of his three-day official visit to India during which he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take part in wide-ranging talks on strategic ties in several key areas.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a post on X said, "Olaf Scholz of Germany lands in New Delhi for the 7th Intergovernmental Consultations and the 18th Asia Pacific Conference of German Business (APK 2024)."  The Chancellor, who arrived late Thursday night, was received by Ministry of State Home Affairs Nityanand Rai.

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

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

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

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, and the last one was held in Berlin in May 2022.

In the meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Chancellor Scholz, the German-Indian Green and Sustainable Development Partnership (GSDP) was agreed upon.

At a media interaction at his residence here on Wednesday, Ambassador Philipp Ackermann said the country "will have a big basket of things" to discuss on Friday when the chancellor and the five federal ministers of Germany will be in New Delhi.

The German Cabinet has recently adopted a key document, 'Focus on India', aimed at elevating the bilateral relations to the next level, the country's envoy also said.