Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh held a bilateral meeting with German Federal Minister of Defense Mr. Boris Pistorius in New Delhi on June 6, 2023. The two Ministers reviewed the ongoing bilateral activities in the field of defense cooperation and explored ways to strengthen this cooperation, especially defense industry partnership.
Raksha Mantri highlighted the opportunities that have opened up in the defense manufacturing sector, including the possibility of German investment in two defense industrial corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The Indian defense industry could tap into German defense industry supply chains and add value to the ecosystem, besides contributing to supply chain resilience.
Shri Rajnath Singh emphasized that India and Germany could build a more symbiotic relationship based on shared goals and complementarity of strength, namely skilled manpower and competitive costs from India and high technology and investment from Germany.
India and Germany have had a strategic partnership since 2000, which has been strengthened since 2011 through intergovernmental consultations at the Prime Minister’s level.
Senior officials of the Ministry of Defense including Defense Secretary Shri Giridhar Aramane and Chief of Defense Staff General Anil Chauhan attended the delegation-level meeting. From the German side, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Defense Benedikt Zimmer in addition to senior officials and the German Ambassador to India were present.
This is the first visit of a German defense minister to India since 2015. The bilateral meeting was preceded by a three-duty guard of honor for the visiting dignitary.
Later in the day, Mr. Boris Pistorius will interact with some of India’s defense start-ups at IIT Delhi at an event organized by Innovations for Defense Excellence (iDEX).
The German Federal Minister of Defense arrived in India on June 5 for a four-day visit. On June 7, he will travel to Mumbai where he is scheduled to visit the headquarters, Western Naval Command and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited.
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