Highlighting the opportunities that have opened up in the defence production sector in India, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday invited German companies to invest in the two defence industrial corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
The Indian defence industry could participate in the supply chains of the German defence industry and add value to the ecosystem, besides contributing to supply chain resilience, he said during a bilateral meeting with German Federal Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius in New Delhi.
The two ministers reviewed the ongoing bilateral defence cooperation activities and explored ways to enhance the collaboration, particularly the defence-industrial partnership.
Rajnath stressed that India and Germany could build a more symbiotic relationship based on shared goals and complementarity of strength, namely skilled workforce and competitive costs from India and high technologies and investment from Germany.
India and Germany have had a strategic partnership since 2000, which is being strengthened through intergovernmental consultations since 2011 at the level of the heads of government.
Senior officials from the Ministry of Defence, including Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane and Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, participated in the delegation-level meeting. From the German side, State Secretary from the Ministry of Defence Benedikt Zimmer, apart from senior officials and the German Ambassador to India, were present. This is the first visit of a German defence minister to India since 2015.
The bilateral meeting was preceded by a Tri-Service Guard of Honour to the visiting dignitary.
The German minister arrived in India yesterday on a four-day visit. Tomorrow, he will be travelling to Mumbai, where he is scheduled to visit the headquarters of the Western Naval Command and the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited.