Broadening horizons

As Delhi lay engulfed in smog, German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a tow-day visit to the national capital with a business delegation and cabinet colleagues for the fifth round of the biennial Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC). The first world leader to visit India after the Union government formalised its decision to bifurcate the erstwhile northern state into two UTs of Ladakh and J&K on October 31, Merkel's visit holds particular relevance at this time. As India and Germany signed seventeen agreements and five joint declarations of intent in areas including space, civil aviation, maritime technology, medicine, yoga, and education, stepping up ties with the European giant and inviting German cooperation in plans for smart cities, e-moblility and harnessing water resources along with defence corridors will bring many opportunities for German companies in tandem with taking India notches above with respect to development. Taking forward the Indo-German Strategic Partnership based on the common values and principles of democracy, free and fair trade, and rules-based international order, as well as on mutual trust and respect bodes well for India, specially at a time when much of global attention has been centred on India in the wake of its decision on J&K—the international community nearly went divided on the bold internal decision of India. With respect to the Kashmir issue in particular, Merkel commented that the situation on ground for the local people is not good concerning long-term impact and that "this certainly has to change," adding that she would advocate "de-escalation and relaxation". Pragmatic and also politically correct, this comment stands relevant in the wake of developing economic relations between India and Germany. A stable nation and region characterised with general peace will invite external cooperation that will inevitably result in betterment on the domestic front. Previously, the two countries had signed the Joint Declaration in the Field of Digitalisation, Empowerment and Economic Impact in 2017 to broaden the digital dialogue. Among the areas of discussion, artificial intelligence and digital transformation, trade and investment, climate and sustainable development, "bringing people together" and sharing global responsibility are in fact the domains that will give India a more prominent global standing. Coming together in the field of renewable energy and acknowledging that the global action towards climate change is inadequate is favourably paving a way for lasting developments to take shape. Certainly, with lofty ideals, the necessity is the maintain conditions to keep the doors open for such cooperation to keep coming in. Having a healthy and safe environment at home politically, economically, and physically, are thus very important.