India, Germany ink 20 agreements in AI, green urban mobility & agriculture

India and Germany inked over 20 agreements, including in the field of Artificial Intelligence, green urban mobility and agriculture, and resolved to jointly combat terrorism, as visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi here as part of the 5th Inter Governmental Consultations.

While strengthening Cooperation in the Field of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation formed a major part of the joint statement, there was also a large section on combating terrorism.

PM Modi, in his address, said that India and Germany have resolved to intensify bilateral and multilateral cooperation to deal with the threats of terrorism and extremism.

Both sides are also focusing on strategic cooperation in the field of new and advanced technology. The two sides have stressed on cooperation in the fields of new and advanced technology, Artificial Intelligence, skills, education, cyber security, he added.

The two countries have also agreed to explore cooperation in news areas like e-mobility, fuel cell technology, smart cities, inland water ways, coastal management, cleaning of rivers and climate change, he added.

"We invite Germany to take advantage of opportunities in the field of defence production in defence corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu," Modi said.

He said the expertise of a technological and economic power house like Germany would be useful in the path of building a 'new India' by 2022.

India and Germany will continue cooperation to expedite reforms in the UN Security Council, Modi said.

Merkel, attired in a red trouser suit, said the MoUs inked between the two sides "show how broad the scope of our cooperation is".

"In Artificial Intelligence and digital transformation, India has a huge potential in the field of digitalisation. In the field of 5G and AI, it would be a challenge, and if we can work together it would be a wonderful way of cooperation," Mekel said.

"Trade, innovation, investment and knowledge, our economic relations have increased, but could be intensified more," she added.

Referring to the fast-track mechanism set up to resolve niggling trade issues, Merkel said thanks to it Germany has been able to bring cases "where difficulties have occurred in terms of economic investments, and find help quickly". This, she said, would help in making India a modern industrialised nation.

She also said 20,000 Indian students are studying in Germany, and the country now wanted to invite Indian teachers there for vocational training, which she said is a big part of the cooperation.

She said Germany wants to participate in big infrastructure projects, in sustainable development, like waste management, pure water and climate issues.

Referring to her meeting with women representatives working in different fields, Merkel said the two can also cooperate in the field of child care, woman and careers and science.

Both can also work in the field of football and exchange of cultural goods, as well as agricultural cooperation, and digitalisation.

Referring to the business delegation accompanying her, she said they were from the SME sector and wanted to be present in the growing Indian market to make it a "win-win" situation.

"On the state level, we want to learn from each other -- defence, cyber, are other sectors of cooperation," she added.

The five Declarations of Intent, were in the field of Consultations for the period 2020-2024, cooperation in strategic projects, in green urban mobility, for joint cooperation in research and development in the field of Artificial and Intelligence and in the field of prevention of marine litter.

The 17 MoUs included for Exchange of Personnel between ISRO and German Aerospace Centre, Cooperation in the Field of Civil Aviation, Cooperation within the International Smart Cities Network, Cooperation in Skills Development and Vocational Education and Training, in the field of Start-ups, in Agricultural Market Development, among others.

The others included cooperation in Inland, Coastal and Maritime Technology, Setting up of Academic Collaboration in Ayurveda, Yoga and Meditation, in Higher Education, between All India Football Federation (AIFF) and Deutscher FuAYball-Bund e.V (DFB), and on Indo-German Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday lauded India for its work in the field of renewable energy and said Berlin intends to work very closely on sustainable development and climate protection including waste management and availability of pure water.

"We intend to work very closely on sustainable development and climate protection. There are many areas both in environmental like waste management pure water and climate issues. India has rather low CO2 footprints. The future industrial development, of course, needs to be as sustainable as possible. 74 GW of renewable energy is here in India and that something that you have reiterated and moved forward. I can congratulate you on that part," Merkel said.

The German chancellor, who is in India for the fifth round of Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC), made these remarks during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Merkel thanked the Indian government for the warm hospitality and said the two countries are linked with strategic and friendly relationship. "I want to thank you personally and your minister for the warm hospitality. Our two countries are linked by a strategic relationship and also a friendly relationship."

Chancellor Merkel was accompanied by ministers of foreign affairs, science and education, food and agriculture, and an official delegation. A business delegation comprising leaders of German companies also accompanied Chancellor Merkel. During the visit, Merkel held meetings with President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Modi.

"These memoranda of understandings show how broad our field of cooperation is and a declaration that we have adopted illustrated once again," Merkel said.

Merkel also asserted that Germany wishes to work with India in the field of technology.

"India has a huge potential here especially when it comes to digitalisation but the development is very fast and its a challenge. And if we work together it would be a wonderful way of cooperation," Merkel said.

The German chancellor said that the agreements are on trade innovation, investment and knowledge.

She noted that the economic relations between India and Germany have sthrengthened but they could be further intensified.

Merkel said that the two sides also discussed the issues of education and research cooperation.

"20,000 Indian nationals are studying in Germany. We would like to see even more. When it comes to vocational training, we want to have the exchange of teachers too," she added.

Merkel also called for improving cultural excahnges between the two nations.

"The exchange of culture is the field we can really bring people together Germany can learn a lot about Indian culture. Indian culture is not present in Germany as it should be," she said.

During her address, Merkel also remembered Mahatama Gandhi and said that his peaceful revolution was inspiring for so many people across the globe.

"The fact that I can stand here before you today is linked to the fact that thirty years ago a wall was brought down in Berlin and was opened after a peaceful process and that shows us our tradition that Indian and German can be proud of," she said.

Following a delegation-level meeting between Indo-German culture ministers on Friday, India and Germany have agreed to cooperate between select museums, and explore the possibility of translating literature classics of both countries.

According to the Ministry of Culture, Indian culture and tourism minister Prahlad Singh Patel held a bilateral meeting with German delegation led by Monika Grutters, Minister of State to the Federal Chancellor, Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media.

They signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding cooperation between these Museums of India and Germany - National Museum Delhi, the National Gallery of Modern Art Delhi, the Indian Museum Kolkata, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation Stauffenbergstr, Berlin and the Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss, Berlin.

"Possibilities will be explored to translate classics belonging to both countries into German and Indian languages. For example, Sanskrit classics like 'Sannyasa Upanisads' and 'Yatidharma Prakasha' can be translated into German. Similarly, one of the following three German classics can be translated either into Hindi or Sanskrit: 'Die Blechtrommel' by Gunter Grass, 'Buddenbrooks' by Thomas Mann and 'The Trial' by Franz Kafka," it said.

The aim of the MoU is to research archaeological, ethnological and art historical objects and their historical and contemporary sources within the framework of material culture studies, it added.

This includes intangible cultural heritage, restoration and conservation studies and education work. The basis for cooperation is the collections and expertise of the participating institutions.

According to the Ministry, Patel said that India and Germany have a long tradition of academic and cultural exchange and that culture plays an important role in the development of a nation.

Emphasising that terrorism is a global scourge, India and Germany on Friday resolved to jointly combat it as well as called upon all countries to root out terrorist safe havens and infrastructure, disrupt terror networks and financing channels and halt cross-border movement of terrorists.

In a joint statement issued after the 5th Inter Governmental Consultations here between visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the two sides emphasised the need for stronger international partnership in countering terrorism and preventing violent extremism, including through increased sharing of information and intelligence and in full compliance with the rule of law and international law, including human rights law and international humanitarian law.

The two leaders underlined the need for all countries to ensure that their territory is not used to launch terrorist attacks on other countries in any manner.

They stressed the importance of the combined effort of all countries to fight global terrorism and to send out a consistent message that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations is not acceptable to the international community.

Referring to the need for presenting a united front in the fight against this global menace, the two leaders called for the finalisation and adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) in March 2020.

Both leaders also agreed that India and Germany must continue their cooperation within the framework of the Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism, including on information and intelligence sharing on terror networks and work together to share experiences on dealing with the growing phenomenon of radicalisation. They asked officials on both sides to schedule the next meeting of the Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism at the earliest, the joint statement said.

The 73-point statement had a large section devoted to 'Strengthening Cooperation in the Field of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation'.

Under it, both sides decided to intensify cooperation towards collaboration on the next generation technologies.

India and Germany aspire to build a collaborative partnership by leveraging advantages on each side recognising increasing integration of hardware and software in developing Internet of Things and AI solutions for societal benefits.

"Both sides have drawn out their country strategies on AI and recognise its potential on research and innovation as well as on society in general. The potential synergies in focus areas such as Health, Mobility, Environment and Agriculture offer immense opportunities for enhancing cooperation and building on our comparative advantages. Germany and India intend to engage in further cooperation especially by fostering multidisciplinary research and development in AI by sharing expertise and best practices. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Department of Science and Technology, through the Indo-German Science and Technology Centre, agreed to organise a bilateral workshop in Berlin in 2020 in order to identify areas of mutual interest," the statement said.

Both sides are to enhance collaboration in the area of AI for health. They welcomed the first stakeholder meeting in Berlin in September 2019 and agreed on facilitating another such meeting in India.

Both leaders welcomed AI collaborations in agriculture such as precision farming with the aim to increase efficiency and to save resources as well as reduction of food losses and waste. Additionally, both ministries of agriculture aim to establish open training datasets for AI applications that also address legal issues.

Both sides welcomed the Round Table with NITI Aayog and German companies of September 30 for exploring opportunities for the application and upscaling of digital technologies and AI in agriculture in India, ensuring the participation of the private sector.

Germany and India agreed to share research on the complexities arising out of adoption of AI in the workplace and its impact on the economy and society through a joint workshop.

Germany and India want to foster business cooperation in the digital sector.

The other points in the joint statement were on expanding frontiers of trade and investment through innovation and knowledge, and taking action for climate and sustainable development.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with its German counterpart, DFB, here on Friday.

The signing of the agreement coincided with German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to India.

Kushal Das, General Secretary AIFF and Friedrich Curtius, General Secretary DFB, signed the document to formalise the relationship between the two football governing bodies.

"The MoU covers a wide range of areas pertaining to Indian football such as coach education (including grassroots), talent scouting and promotion, deployment of professional referees to India, exchange between national teams and visit of DFB all-star team (if feasible), joint marketing initiatives and sports administration via discussions on their competition management solutions," said the AIFF in a statement.

"Football cooperation among states is also one of the agendas in respective Government's discussion," it added.

Das expressed delight at joining hands with DFB.

"It is a great honour for AIFF to get into this agreement with DFB. I am sure this will immensely benefit Indian football significantly.

"Germany are renowned for their footballing prowess, and the work done by them at the grassroots level stands out. The MoU represents a great opportunity to learn from their experience and expertise through mutual cooperation and collaboration, he added.