PM to talk defence, FTA in Germany

Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 23

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Germany next week for the biannual inter-governmental consultancies (IGC).

While a vast array of bilateral and global issues are likely to come up for discussion between Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the two topics that are likely to receive the most attention are increased cooperation in the defence sector and Germany’s pitch for resuming negotiations for an EU-India free trade agreement (FTA).

At a press meet ahead of the PM’s visit, German envoy to India Martin Ney today said Germany was ready to conclude a government-to-government (G2G) agreement with India in defence procurement, adding that it would be discussed by the two sides.

The German envoy also made a strong pitch for restarting negotiations on the India-EU FTA. In a detailed response, the envoy said following the expiry of the India-Germany bilateral investment protection treaties (BITs) in March, that while existing investments from India in Germany or vice-versa will be protected for the next 15 years under the old set of rules, all new investments will not have any protection until a new treaty is signed.

Germany is among the countries with which India has terminated BITs following a new BIT model New Delhi released in December 2015.

Modi and Merkel will head the fourth round of IGC on May 29-30 in Berlin.