Modi, German President discuss ways to strengthen strategic partnership

New Delhi: German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Saturday held wide-ranging talks with Indian leadership including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, who stressed that the world community must be unanimous in curbing and rooting out terror in all forms.

Steinmeier, who is on a five-day visit to India, and Modi discussed ways to strengthen the strategic partnership during their meeting at the renovated Sunder Nursery, a 90-acre heritage park in central Delhi.

"Had the honour of taking the President of Germany, Mr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier to Delhi's Sunder Nursery. We had wonderful discussions on a wide range of issues," the Prime Minister Modi tweeted.

Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also called on the German president, who has visited India several times in the past in his capacity as the foreign minister and vice chancellor of Germany.

"Engaging discussion on broadening and deepening our strategic partnership. The two sides attach priority to the relationship, bilaterally and also in the global context," Raveesh Kumar, Spokesperson of Ministry of the External Affairs, tweeted after Swaraj met the President.

While interacting with Steinmeier, Naidu said that India and Germany share similar perceptions on most of the issues confronting the world.

Without naming Pakistan, Naidu decried the activities of India's neighbour "which is encouraging, abetting and aiding terror groups".

"Terror has no religion," a statement quoted Naidu as saying during the meeting.

The Vice President suggested that the world community must be unanimous in curbing and rooting out terror in all forms, it said.

Earlier in the day, Steinmeier was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The German president had arrived on Thursday and had visited Varanasi. He also had an interaction with students at the Delhi university.

On Sunday, he will travel to Chennai. His engagements there include a visit to IIT-Madras and addressing a group of business leaders. The next day he will visit the Shore temple in Mahabalipuram.

The last German president to visit India was Joachim Gauck in February 2014.

Germany is India's largest trading partner in Europe and the sixth largest trading partner in the world. India was ranked 24th in Germany's global trade.

In 2016-17, the bilateral trade turnover was $18.76 billion. In 2016-17, India exported goods worth $7.18 billion to Germany and imported goods worth $11.58 billion.

Germany is the 7th largest foreign direct investor in India and the cumulative German FDI in India from April 2000 to December 2017 is $10.71 billion or 2.91 per cent of total FDI, according to official figures.