PM Modi meets German President at Castle Bellevue

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at his official residence in Berlin on Tuesday.

The two leaders also enjoyed a walk at the grounds of Castle Bellevue, the official residence of the President of Germany since 1994.

"Reaffirming resolve for strong and dynamic relationship. PM @narendramodi calls on President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at Castle Bellevue," India's Ministry of External (MEA) spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted.

Prime Minister Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel also started the fourth round of the biannual Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) in Berlin earlier in the day.

They also jointly issued a press statement and later addressed the India-Germany Business Summit.

Germany is the only country with which India has such an institutionalized dialogue mechanism.

The first IGC was held in New Delhi in 2011, the second in Berlin in 2013, and the third in New Delhi in 2015.

Prime Minister Modi is accompanied by Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan, Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi was accorded a ceremonial welcome on as he began his two-day official visit to Germany.

Received by the German Chancellor, Prime Minister Modi was accorded the ceremonial reception, where the national anthem of India and Germany were played.

The MEA said in a statement at the end of the first day of Prime Minister Modi's two-day Germany visit, "The two leaders discussed Afghanistan and reiterated their support for an Afghan led and Afghan owned reconciliation and development process. There was discussion also on the issue of radicalization and terrorism and each countries experience in dealing with this."

Both the leaders also discussed Brexit and the impact on India and Germany and on the future of the European Union.

On Monday, Modi and Merkel held a private meeting in the latter's country resort of Schloss Meseberg, 65 km from Berlin, in which a range of issues, including terrorism, climate change were discussed.

"We will chart out a future roadmap of cooperation with focus on trade and investment, security and counter-terrorism, innovation and science and technology, skill development, urban infrastructure, railways and civil aviation ,The Prime Minister said before he left for Berlin.