Germany is one of India’s most important European partners, especially given the country’s key role in the EU. Turning back the pages, India was among the first countries to establish diplomatic ties with the Federal Republic of Germany after the Second World War. The ‘Strategic Partnership' between the countries was further strengthened with the launch of Inter governmental Consultations (IGC). India is among a select group of countries with which Germany has such a dialogue mechanism. Today, as the 4th and 5th largest economies in the world, respectively, Germany and India share a robust economic and developmental partnership.

As far as the bilateral trade is concerned, Germany is currently India's 12th largest trading partner (in 2022-23). According to government data, India constituted about 1 percent of Germany’s total foreign trade last year, while Germany constituted around 2.24 percent of India's foreign trade. India’s bilateral trade with Germany has been experiencing continuous growth till the pandemic, reaching a peak of US$ 24 bn in 2018-19. It remained almost stagnant throughout the pandemic-ridden years. In 2022-23, India’s bilateral trade with Germany reached US$ 26 billion. However, the balance of trade has been in favor of Germany.

During his three-day visit to India, Germany's Vice Chancellor and Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck said that India and Germany want to strengthen bilateral cooperation further and increase investments and collaboration among companies. India shares the sentiments as the country is riding a significant economic growth curve with a lot of momentum. In this issue, we feature some of the Indian leaders in Germany who have set the bar high for the rest of the aspirants to follow.