India, Germany to double bilateral trade

 Sandeep Dikshit

 NEW DELHI: India and Germany on Tuesday signed a joint statement on furthering their strategic partnership through new initiatives in trade and investment, energy, science and technology, education and culture and defence. Having achieved the bilateral trade target of Euros 10 billion two years ahead of schedule, they resolved to double it in another five years.

The two sides also expressed their “firm support” for each other’s candidatures for permanent seats in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and chalked out plans for closer cooperation in the defence arena, with a technological approach underpinning the symmetry of purpose in this direction.

Acknowledging the considerable potential in the services sector, they agreed on the need to speedily seal a social security agreement both for individuals and companies in their countries. They also felt the early conclusion on an agreement on clean development mechanism (CDM) projects would strengthen the prospects for joint projects in energy efficiency.

The signing of an agreement on mutual protection of classified information in the area of defence [preceded last year by a defence cooperation agreement] along with dialogue on export control, it was hoped, would mark the development of a new phase to enhance the strategic partnership.

The joint statement envisaged the ambit of defence cooperation to include exchange of information and cooperation in defence technological research, armament procurement projects including project related development and general defence technology. On the Doha Round, they underlined the need for a focus on the development dimension and stressed the necessity to overcome the differences in a manner that benefits all member countries of the Worlds Trade Organisation (WTO). “Close cooperation between India and Germany will make a significant contribution to achieve a balanced and comprehensive agreement,” noted the joint statement. They also agreed that further enhancement of air traffic would underpin the growing trade relations between the two countries.