German Foreign Minister calls on PM Modi

German Foreign Minister Dr Frank-Walter Steinmeier called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his official residence at 7, Race Course Road here on Monday.

During the meeting, Steinmeier conveyed Germany's strong desire to work with the new government to further expand and deepen bilateral relations.

He welcomed India's decision to accept the invitation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel for India to participate in Hannover Messe 2015, one of the world's biggest industrial fair, as a partner country.

The Prime Minister recalled his fruitful telephone conversation with Merkel on July 17 while transiting through Germany. He expressed appreciation for Merkel's personal interest and commitment to the India-Germany relationship.

Prime Minister Modi further said that India looked forward to the visit of Merkel for the next round of Inter-Governmental Consultations in 2015. The Prime Minister also lauded Germany's remarkable economic resurgence over the past decade. He described India and Germany, which are bound by democratic values, as "made for each other" because of complementary skills and resources to power the next generation of industrial development through partnering in manufacturing and infrastructure development.

The Prime Minister further suggested that using Germany's strength and experience in the area of skill development; both sides develop a concrete time-bound plan for training of Indian youth to meet Indian needs and the global requirement of skilled human resources.

He also called for taking forward the ongoing cooperation in the area of clean energy and forging new partnerships in the areas of solid waste management, waste water treatment and cleaning of rivers.

It was agreed that both sides will undertake preparations with the aim of finalizing concrete roadmap for cooperation in each of these areas at the next Inter-Governmental Consultations meeting. Towards this end, issue specific workshops will be organized ahead of the Hannover Messe 2015.

The German Foreign Minister, who is presently in India on a three-day visit, later met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at the Hyderabad House here.

On Sunday, Dr. Steinmeier had visited the Gandhi Smriti, a museum dedicated to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. He was accompanied by German ambassador to India Michael Steiner during his visit to the memorial.