Finance
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will make his first two-day official visit to India since taking office, arriving in Ahmedabad on January 12 and then traveling to Bengaluru.
Announcing this, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Monday: “At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Friedrich Merz, will pay an official visit to India on 12-13 January 2026. This will be Chancellor Merz’s first official visit to India. On the visit, he will be traveling to Ahmedabad and Bengaluru.”
The MEA said Prime Minister Modi will receive Merz in Ahmedabad on January 12.
“The two leaders will take stock of the progress made in diverse aspects of the India-Germany Strategic Partnership, which completed 25 years last year. The discussion will also focus on further intensifying cooperation in trade and investment, technology, education, skilling and mobility, while also advancing collaboration in important domains of defence and security, science, innovation and research, green and sustainable development, and people-to-people relations,” it said.
Modi and Merz will also connect with business and industrial leaders to exchange perspectives on regional and global concerns, it said.
“The visit will build on the momentum generated by regular interactions at the highest political level. It will provide a valuable opportunity to reaffirm the shared vision of India and Germany to build a forward-looking partnership for the benefit of the people of both countries and the wider global community,” it said.
PM Modi and Merz had first met on June 17, 2025, on the sidelines of the G7 leaders’ summit in Kananaskis, Canada, within a month of Merz assuming office.
During Operation Sindoor, which followed the Pahalgam terror incident, the two leaders agreed that terrorism is a grave danger to global peace and stability. In this context, the Prime Minister thanked Merz for Germany’s strong sympathy and assistance for India’s counter-terrorism efforts.
Since May 2000, India and Germany have had a ‘Strategic Partnership’, which was enhanced in 2011 with the establishment of Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) at the Heads of Government level.
As two of the world’s top five economies, Germany and India have a strong economic and developmental connection. Aside from significant economic links, both countries share an interest in preserving democratic ideals, the rules-based international order, and multilateralism, as well as reforming multilateral institutions. Both sides have also underlined the importance of strengthening bilateral security and defense cooperation in order to confront global security problems.
Source: IE
