SPEECHES / STATEMENTS 

PM’s opening statement at Joint Press Interaction along with German Chancellor at Hannover

April 23, 2006, Hannover, Germany

“I would like to express my sincere appreciation to H.E. Chancellor Merkel and the German government for the warm welcome and hospitality extended to me and my delegation.

India and Germany enjoy excellent bilateral relations and are actively working to strengthen our Strategic Partnership. My visit here reflects our continued interest and commitment to work with Germany under Chancellor Merkel in order to further broaden and deepen our understanding on various bilateral and international issues.

As the Chancellor has mentioned, we had very useful discussion about our bilateral relations. We also exchanged views about regional issues and the current international situation. I do believe that these have helped us reach a better understanding of each other’s position on all these issues.

Germany is one of our biggest trading partners and has made large investments in India. Many of our Indian companies are also expanding their business presence in Germany. The rapid growth of the Indian economy offers significant opportunities to both sides to transform our economic ties.

The Hannover Trade Fair with India as the partner country and the Indo-German Business Summit, which will be held tomorrow will provide a further momentum to our economic cooperation, especially in the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors.

In the energy sector, we welcome the setting up of the high level Indo-German Energy Forum with participation of both governments, as well as public and private sectors. The Forum will enable the two countries to focus on practical cooperation in the fields of energy efficiency, clean coal technology and renewable energy.

India and Germany have long-standing cooperation in the field of science & technology. We have agreed to work actively toward setting up a jointly funded Indo-German Science Centre in Delhi.

India and Germany share a common perspective on terrorism. India has been a victim of terrorism for many years now. We appreciate Germany’s understanding of our position and look forward to continued cooperation on counter-terrorism.

Our two countries also have a common vision of a cooperative, rule-based multipolar world order. During our discussions, we re-iterated our mutual determination to continue efforts within the framework of the G-4 for the reform and expansion of the UN Security Council without which the overall reform of the United Nations will remain incomplete.

I have invited Chancellor Merkel to visit India next year for continuing the tradition of annual summit meetings. I look forward to working with her to provide further impetus to our strategic partnership.”