Germany’s Scholz heads to India despite differences on Russia

Berlin and New Delhi are defence partners in the Indo-Pacific region – Copyright AFP/File Sajjad HUSSAIN

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit India from Friday to discuss economic, defence and labour ties and navigate more sensitive issues such as relations with Russia amid the Ukraine war.

A host of cabinet ministers are travelling with Scholz, who leaves Thursday for the inter-governmental talks between Europe’s biggest economy and the South Asian population giant.

Berlin and New Delhi are defence partners in the Indo-Pacific region, and Scholz will on Saturday visit two German naval vessels docked in the southern state of Goa for a seven-month deployment.

But the two countries diverge over ties with Russia. While Germany strongly backs Ukraine, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week attended a BRICS summit where he embraced Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In contrast to Germany, Modi’s government has maintained its longstanding ties with Moscow even as it also courts closer security partnerships with its Western allies.

This does not need to be an obstacle to closer cooperation, said Christian Wagner of Germany’s Institute for International and Security Affairs.

“Germany sees India as a reliable partner in the Indo-Pacific and naturally wants to support India against China’s growing hegemonic ambitions in the Indian Ocean,” he said.

Wagner added that New Delhi, with its vision of a “multipolar Asia”, wants to avoid seeing a “completely weakened Russia”.

– Skilled labour –

Scholz will be joined by Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Defence Minister Boris Pistorius.

Ministers are also expected to discuss India’s ambitious programme to scale up production of “green hydrogen”, a clean energy source in demand in Germany as Russian oil and gas supplies have shrunk and Berlin seeks to meet its climate goals.

Both Modi and Scholz are expected to address a conference of business leaders from Germany and various Asian countries.

Germany sees India, the world’s most populous nation, as a crucial economic and trade partner and a promising pool for skilled workers to help plug labour shortages in the ageing country.

Labour Minister Hubertus Heil, who joins the trip, already launched a charm offensive last week when he donned a cricket shirt and tried his hand at India’s national sport at an event with the Indian diaspora in Berlin.

India and Germany signed a migration agreement two years ago to facilitate mobility for professionals and students.

Berlin has also pledged to make its visa application process less bureaucratic and to improve the recognition of Indian professional qualifications in Germany. 

– ‘Expectation management’ –

Scholz, Pistorius and Baerbock travel to Goa on Saturday to visit the naval vessels.

The ships are there for a joint exercise with India, just weeks after the Luftwaffe took part in India’s first multinational air exercise, Tarang Shakti (“Wave of Strength”).

Wagner said that in recent years “there has been a consistent desire for stronger military cooperation, particularly from the Indian side.”

But he cautioned that Germany and other Western allies need to practice “expectation management” in terms of what military cooperation can achieve.

While the West can “support India in order to improve its military capabilities against China… we cannot expect that this will bring about a change in India’s foreign policy course in the medium to long term”, Wagner said.

He added that said Scholz’s trip may also aim to promote efforts to “support India to reduce its dependency on Russian arms”.