Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wants Germany to relax its stringent export control laws to help open 'new horizons' for high technology trade with India, as the two countries vowed to increase the bilateral trade volume by nearly 40 per cent to 20 billion Euros by 2012.
"There is vast untapped potential for high technology trade between India and Germany and I conveyed to Chancellor Merkel that relaxation of German export control laws will open new horizons for such trade. This will be to our mutual benefit," Singh said after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel last night.
On Germany's part, Merkel said there was no "trust deficit" between the two countries on the issue of high technology transfer.
Merkel's response came when a reporter asked why Germany puts restrictions on the transfer of high technology to India and whether there was a trust deficit in easing them.
"Our partnership with India is of a strategic nature. Our goals are ambitious and there is no trust deficit, on the contrary we are cooperating very well in this area," said Merkel, adding "We are taking our strategic cooperation seriously."
The Chancellor said both sides were working on modalities to ease such restrictions.
"On the transfer of high technology for peaceful purposes, the Prime Minister mentioned the potential for high technology trade between India and Germany. We are cooperating closely on this, and will work towards a smoother cooperation," she added.
Merkel also said there is a good military-to-military cooperation which should be seen as a posistive development in bilateral ties.
At their joint news conference, both Singh and Merkel said the two countries have decided to step up efforts to increase bilateral trade to 20 billion Euros by 2012 from the existing level of around 15 billion Euros.
Singh said despite the economic downturn the two sides were hopeful that the target set will be "achieved." Germany is India's largest trading partner in the 27-nation European Union.
