German Chancellor Olaf Scholz To Hold Wide Ranging Talks With PM Modi During 2-Day India Visit

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived in the national capital on Thursday as part of his three-day official visit to India. During his visit to India, Scholz is set to hold wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on strategic ties in several key areas.

In a post on X, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, "Olaf Scholz of Germany lands in New Delhi for the 7th Intergovernmental Consultations and the 18th Asia Pacific Conference of German Business (APK 2024)."

The Chancellor, who arrived late Thursday night, was received by the Ministry of State Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai. Earlier, in a statement, the MEA had said that Scholz will pay an official visit to India from October 24 to 26 at the invitation of Prime Minister Modi.

The two leaders will hold wide-ranging talks with a focus on boosting bilateral strategic ties, including in the areas of defence, trade, and clean energy. On Friday, Modi and Scholz will co-chair the seventh Intergovernmental Consultations (IGC).

The IGC is a whole-of-government framework under which ministers from both sides hold discussions in their respective areas of responsibility and report on the outcome of their deliberations to the prime minister and the chancellor.

The IGC is a biannual exercise, and the last one was held in Berlin in May 2022. In the meeting between PM Modi and Scholz, the German-Indian Green and Sustainable Development Partnership (GSDP) was agreed upon.

During an interaction with mediapersons at his residence in the national capital on Wednesday, Ambassador Philipp Ackermann said the country "will have a big basket of things" to discuss on Friday when the chancellor and the five federal ministers of Germany will be in New Delhi.

Recently, the German Cabinet has adopted a key document, 'Focus on India', aimed at elevating bilateral relations to the next level, the country's envoy also said.