Modi praises Merkel, signs 12 agreements worth a billion euros

Germany wants to develop its ties with India and this should not be at the cost of its trans-Atlantic relationship, German chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday after meeting PM Narendra Modi, who called Berlin “a very reliable partner”.

Merkel, seeking to repair damage after shocking Washington on Sunday by declaring the era in which Europe could rely on its partners was somewhat over, repeatedly stressed the importance of trans-Atlantic ties but also highlighted Germany’s history of cooperating with India and China in a “global world”.

India and Germany signed 12 MoUs and agreements on Tuesday after the Modi-Merkel meeting. Of these nine were joint declarations of intent (JDIs) and three, memoranda of understanding (MoUs). “That’s of huge importance and in no way directed against any other relationships and certainly not against the trans-Atlantic ties, which have historically been very important for us and will remain so in future,” she said.

Speaking at a joint press meet, she reiterated her view that “we need to take our fate in Europe into our own hands”.

Europe needs to step up its presence on the international stage, for example by bringing about solutions to issues such as the Libya conflict, migration and economic problems including unemployment, she said.

“There has been signing of a number of declarations of intent with 1 billion euros going into cooperation between the countries,” Merkel said. Modi, who praised Merkel’s strong leadership, said: “Europe and the world are facing lots of challenges and to fight those, India believes, the world needs the strong leadership of Chancellor Merkel.”

CONTINUED ON P 5