As the Merkel era comes to an end in Germany, the currently forming German government has already indicated that it intends to depart from key foreign policy paradigms, thereby offering new opportunities for Indo-German relations. The partnership between India and her largest trade partner in Europe has already advanced greatly trade and development cooperation. Further strengthening of the relationship can serve as a catalyst for India-EU relations, solve existing impasses in global governance, and contribute to the order in the Indo-Pacific.
Two months after the German Federal Elections on September 26, leaders of the currently forming “traffic light coalition” have just announced their coalition agreement titled “Dare more progress.” Only a few inner-party hurdles remain before the new coalition of Social Democrats, Greens, and Liberals can vote on Olaf Scholz as first social-democratic chancellor since 2005. The incoming government’s first ideas on foreign policy reflect a new geopolitical awareness and an interest to cooperate in economics, security, and global governance.
While Germany and India share intensified bilateral ties since entering a strategic partnership in 2001, symbolic interaction, a lack of mutual global priorities and limited coordination of concerns in multilateral fora have long overshadowed the relationship. Yet, slowly but steadily, the two countries have come to realize that their shared interest in a multipolar global order as well as in nuanced navigation between sovereign resilience and international openness provides untapped potential. Constituting the three parties’ action plan for the new mandate, the incoming government’s 177-pages coalition agreement states an “outstanding interest in deepening the strategic partnership with India.”
Traffic light leaders’ understanding of foreign and security policy offer new opportunities to cooperate in the Indo-Pacific. The new coalition’s budget now considers the triplet of foreign affairs, defense, and development as integral parts to German foreign engagement and aims at presenting a new National Security Strategy by next year. With the Green Annalena Baerbock set to become Germany’s first female Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, the country’s external affairs will be more geopolitically conscious and particularly vocal on Chinese border aggressions. The coalition’s call to work with “similarly minded partners” sends a timely signal to India, that yet awaits Germany and the European Union (EU) to embellish this year’s Indo-Pacific strategy.
Germany’s future actions might hence not always correspond with India’s expectations, who has recently rather opted for plurilateral platforms like the Quad as security providers.
Intensifying cooperation will meet differently natured constraints. While being more outspoken and direct on security challenges, the coalition agreement’s language is unambiguous in its confirmation of international law and conflict resolution mechanisms as appropriate diplomatic tools. Germany’s future actions might hence not always correspond with India’s expectations, who has recently rather opted for plurilateral platforms like the Quad as security providers. Another challenge will be that the Green Party-led foreign policy will seek to strengthen the EU voice in a period where the party’s influence in European politics remains limited. At the same time, India’s security cooperation with Europe is most advanced with the French Republic. Both Germany and India would be well advised to build on that experience when formulating geopolitical responses for the Indo-Pacific.
In its foreign economic diplomacy, Germany’s new coalition intends to introduce new policies that may accelerate the partnership with New Delhi in key sectors. The incoming government announced a new climate diplomacy indicating Germany’s motivation to take a leadership position, especially in building resilient infrastructure.
India and Germany should take this as an opportunity to cooperate more on green infrastructure to strengthen climate resilience. In the light of the coalition’s call for future EU trade deals to require a climate review, both Germany and India must increase sensitivity to each other’s concerns and demands for climate cooperation to become an opportunity, not an obstacle. Cooperation on smart city projects appear pertinent as they cross-sectionally address existing development cooperation focuses while not only being compatible with the existing Indo-German Urbanization Partnership but also with the new German climate agenda.
Technology cooperation on federal and state levels can play a significant role in the new bilateral relationship to advance security interests and contribute to the global commons. For example, India’s and Germany’s weariness towards the weaponization of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) require close cooperation in developing resilient international supply chains. As the coalition agreement’s tone is rather favoring a defensive cyber strategy, the features of Germany’s strong industrial sector and India’s ubiquitous software market make the two nations natural allies in developing safe, efficient, and resilient cyber-physical systems.
Cooperation on smart city projects appear pertinent as they cross-sectionally address existing development cooperation focuses while not only being compatible with the existing Indo-German Urbanization Partnership but also with the new German climate agenda.
The Covid-19 pandemic has illustrated the interdependence and significance of Germany and India as global innovators and producers of medical solutions. A bilateral dialogue on how to synergize the strengths of each other’s health capabilities would not only serve the bilateral relationship but stimulate a wider debate on how to bridge the North-South divide in global health. People-to-people connectivity will play a significant role in fostering mutual understanding. The coalition agreement’s call to increase spending to the Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst (DAAD) and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH) sends a positive signal to further increase academic exchange between the two countries.
In the near future, Germany and India will continue to discover disagreements around central questions of global governance. With the Liberals as a coalition partner, it is unlikely that Germany will accommodate India’s calls to deregulate international patents. The stagnating effort of Brazil, Germany, and India to jointly reform the United Nations Security Council too has slackened the vitality of global cooperation. However, Germany’s accession and active involvement in the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in September 2021 stands paradigmatically for a form of concrete global cooperation that can build trust and deepen the Indo-German partnership in multilateral environments.
The new coalition building in Germany provides a window of opportunity to depart from a one-size-fits-all approach and shift to an approach that addresses specific issues for cooperation. Geopolitics, economics, and global governance provide very different challenges to policy makers in Delhi and Berlin. It’s high time that this window is utilized first in the Indo-German climate, cyber, and global governance partnerships.
This commentary originally appeared in Economic Times.
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Professor Harsh V. Pant is Vice President – Studies and Foreign Policy at Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi. He is a Professor of International Relations ...
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