New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Monday signed an agreement on the comprehensive migration and mobility partnership with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in Delhi.
Both ministers held comprehensive talks in the national capital earlier in the day.
“Today we have spent the morning exchanging views on the major international issues of the day, apart from our bilateral relationship. This included the conflict in Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific strategic situation, developments pertaining to Afghanistan and Pakistan to some degree Iran, Syria, and each one of us brought to this set of issues our perspectives. I found it very useful, and very rewarding to listen to your perspectives on many matters,” EAM Dr S Jaishankar said, as quoted by news agency ANI.
He further mentioned, “Regarding Pakistan, I spent some time with the minister outlining the nature of our ties and the challenge of cross-border terrorism but the main challenge today is that we cannot have talks while there is terrorism. There was an understanding from the German side as well.”
A wide ranging conversation today with FM @ABaerbock of Germany. Took forward our frequent exchanges, this time in greater detail.
Reviewed our bilateral ties and shared perspectives on a number of important regional and global issues. pic.twitter.com/ibNUs34S38
Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) December 5, 2022
Talking about bilateral ties, the External Affairs Minister said: “Our strategic partnership, which is more than two decades old, has really been bolstered by greater political exchanges, ever-expanding trade, more investment, and a stronger people-to-people relationship.”
“2022 has been a year of particular note for us, we held the 6th India Germany Inter-governmental Consultations in Berlin in May and this was the first since the current government in Germany, led by Chancellor Scholz, came to power,” he added.
As per Jaishankar, both Ministers discussed multilateral issues. “India and Germany interact in the framework of the G4 when it comes to the reform of the UN Security Council. We had a discussion on India’s G20 presidency, which comes just as Germany itself is concluding a successful G7 presidency,” he said.
#WATCH | European Unions from February to November have exported more fossil fuel from Russia than the next 10 countries combined. The oil import in European Union is six times what India has imported; gas is infinite times because we don’t import it: EAM Dr S Jaishankar pic.twitter.com/60LyGuHOb8
— ANI (@ANI) December 5, 2022
India Is A Role Model For Many Countries Globally: German Foreign Minister
“I started my visit to India today, at Gandhi Smriti. I have always been moved by India’s rich history. But when I followed Gandhi’s last steps today, I became acutely aware of the fact that India’s path towards independence truly wasn’t an easy one,” she said, as quoted by ANI.
“Today, almost 75 years after the murder of Gandhi, there is a close bond between our democracies, a bond that unites us on the basis of shared values, human rights, freedom, democracy, trust in an order based on the law,” she added.
At the joint media address, the German foreign minister said that India is a role model for many countries globally, “India’s G20 Presidency and your presidency in UNSC overlap with our G7 presidency. I’d like to thank you for assuming presidency of G20. You made it clear in our discussion that it’s a very special task. India assuming global responsibility in this difficult moment”.
“I’m delighted that India during its G20 presidency with the motto ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’ is putting a special focus on containing the climate crisis. Thus highlighting our common responsibility when it comes to climate change,” Annalena Baerbock added, as quoted by ANI.
Jaishankar, Baerbock Discuss Visa Issues
Meanwhile, Jaishankar also highlighted that Germany is India’s largest partner in the European Union. “We are today supporting the India-EU negotiations on trade, investment, and geographical indicators. We hope that they will progress well. The third round of negotiations on the FDA has just concluded,” he said.
He mentioned that issues pertaining to visa challenges also came up in the talks, “we hope that some of these are addressed in the coming months so that the backlog can be cleared. I have every confidence that there will be that effort made by our partner.”
“There’s a case related to a child called Ariha Shah. We’ve concerns that she should be in her linguistic, religious, cultural & social environment. This is her right. Our embassy is pursuing this with German authorities. It was a subject which I brought up with the Minister,” he added.
(With Agency Inputs)