President greets Germany on unification day

President Pranab Mukherjee greeted the government and people of Germany on their unification day, which will be marked on Saturday.

"On behalf of the government, the people of India and on my own behalf, I extend warm greetings and felicitations to you and the people of the Federal Republic of Germany on the occasion of your unification day," Mukherjee said in his message to his German counterpart Joachim Gauck.

"Germany is our valued partner. Our relationship is based on key complementarities and has evolved into a multi-dimensional strategic partnership encompassing a rich tapestry of cooperation.

"India's participation as partner country in the Hannover Messe-2015 underlined our commitment to further intensify and strengthen our engagement with Germany. I am confident that the visit of Chancellor Angela Merkel to India for the third intergovernmental consultations will take our partnership to the next level by deepening and expanding our collaboration in a range of sectors of mutual interest," he said.

The former communist German Democratic Republic, or East Germany, had reunited with the Fedral Republic of Germany, or West Germany on October 3, 1990.