As global power dynamics shift, India is emerging as a key partner for Germany and the European Union, particularly considering the dual challenge posed by China and Russia. Foreign Minister Wadephul’s two-day visit to India in early September 2025 highlighted the growing interest in cooperation including in security, science, culture, space exploration, trade and the defence of a rules-based international order.
In this new issue of Berlin Perspectives, Garima Mohan argues that Germany and India share fundamental interests on which deeper cooperation can be built. On this basis, she formulates key recommendations for the German government to strengthen the Indo-German partnership.
First, the growing overlap of interests should be used more strategically: while India faces security policy challenges due to conflicts in its immediate neighbourhood, Germany is seeking alternative economic partners beyond China, and the United States. In their strategic assessment of China, both countries are increasingly converging, and despite existing differences in their respective approaches to Russia, long-term alignment could be achieved through strategic coordination. Second, Mohan recommends that the German government make greater use of the existing potential for joint development, production, and research in the defence industry with India, in order to respond to an increasingly unstable global environment. India can also serve, in the long term, as a partner in reducing Germany’s dependencies on China, provided structural barriers are removed. Against this backdrop, Germany should actively advance the planned EU-India Free Trade Agreement. Finally, Mohan emphasises the need to systematically expand India-specific expertise in German policymaking, business, and academia to support informed and future-oriented decisions as part of a comprehensive India strategy.
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