German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit
India next week, the Indian foreign ministrysaid Wednesday, as the two countries seek to
bolster trade and bilateral ties.
Germany has been keen on expanding trade
cooperation with India, one of the world’s
fastest-growing economies, and a number of
agreements are likely to be signed during
Merkel’s visit in the first week of October.
Indian foreign ministry spokesman Vikas
Swarup confirmed the visit AFP but said the
exact dates and the agenda would be
announced at a later date.
Local media reports said the possibility of
resuming the stalled India-EU Free Trade
Agreement negotiations was being worked on
by both sides.
India and the 27-member EU have been in
negotiations over the market-opening pact
since June 2007 to boost bilateral commerce.
But progress has since been stymied by
differences over intellectual property rights
and efforts by EU to link trade with
environmental issues and India’s social sector
performance in areas such as child labour.
Merkel last visited India in 2011 and met
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Germany in
April this year.
Germany is India’s largest trading partner in
Europe, with bilateral trade in 2014 valued at
15.96 billion euros.
Credit: Vanguard
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