Capacity-building for young politicians

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A delegation of the Young Group of the CDU/CSU party group, those members of the party group in the German parliament who were below the age of 35 at the last election date, visited India between October 25th and 30th. In New Delhi they met with Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, Vice-President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

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Furthermore, they met Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Minister for Shipping, and former President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), ...

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... and Piyush Goyal, Minister of Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy.

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During a breakfast appointment in New Delhi, the delegation met a group of Indian members of parliament led by Anurag Singh Thakur, Member of the Lok Sabha, Parliamentary Spokesperson of the BJP, and National President of the BJYM.

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With Rahul Gandhi, Vice-President of the Indian National Congress (INC), the perspective of the Indian opposition on the future of the Indo-German partnership was discussed.

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With Salman Khurshid, former Minister of External Affairs of India, the delegates had the opportunity for an exchange on Indian foreign policy.

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At a meeting with Dr. Najma A. Heptullah, Minister of Minority Affairs and a long-time friend of Germany, the religious and cultural diversity of India was discussed.

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The delegates met the newly appointed German Ambassador to India, Dr. Martin Ney, at his residence in New Delhi.

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Finding ways for a long-term deepening of the Indo-German partnership is the goal of the trip, a subject that was discussed during an event organized by the KAS Liaison Office India and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). The picture shows the delegation with Dr. Jyotsna Suri, president of FICCI, the "Green Maharaja" Rakesh Bakshi, several members of parliament, and representatives of the Indian economy.

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Broad agreement that Germany and India are natural partners could be seen at a networking breakfast with Indian members of parliament and representatives of the Indian economy, organized in cooperation with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

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An exchange with the Indian youth was an explicit wish of the young members of parliament. The opportunity arose at the sidelines of the first awarding of diplomas of German as a foreign language to Indian schoolgirls, The picture shows Ronja Schmitt, who at her current age of 26 is the youngest member of the German parliament.

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Exchange with Indian Christians was also of high importance to the delegates. The picture shows head of delegation Steffen Bilger, member of parliament, with Archbishop Dr. Kuriakose Bharanqikulangara.

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Dinesh Gundu Rao, Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies, talking to Dr. Lars Peter Schmidt, Resident KAS-Representative to India, Carsten Körber, Member of Parliament, Julia Obermeier, Member of Parliament, and Ronja Schmitt, Member of Parliament.

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In Bengaluru, the delegation visited the Robert Bosch GmbH. On the picture Steffen Kanitz, Member of Parliament, and Mark Hauptmann, Member of Parliament, can be seen talking to Vijay Rathnaparke, President Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions (RBEI) in Bengaluru.

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In Bengaluru, the Young Group visited the Infosys Campus where the delegates were informed about India´s second largest IT company and had an exchange about developments in the Indian and global IT sector.

The delegation, consisting of 13 members of parliament from the Young Group of the CDU/CSU party group and Christian Hirte, Member of Parliament, was led by Steffen Bilger, Member of Parliament. As part of the programme, the delegation met Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Minister for Shipping, and former President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Piyush Goyal, Minister of Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy, Dr. Najma A. Heptullah, Minister of Minority Affairs, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, Vice-President of the BJP, Anurag Singh Thakur, Member of the Lok Sabha, Parliamentary Spokesperson of the BJP, and National President of the BJYM, Rahul Gandhi, Vice-President of the Indian National Congress (INC), and several members of parliament from different parties.

During two round-table discussions organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), respectively, the delegates spoke about chances for economic cooperation between the two countries. Further, the group met the newly appointed ambassador of Germany to India, Dr. Martin Ney, Archbishop Dr. Kuriakose Bharanqikulangara, and representatives of German organisations and companies in India. During a ceremony at Carmel Convent School, the members of parliament handed over German language diploma to school girls learning German as a foreign language.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the group traveled to the IT-hub Bengaluru, where visits to Mercedes-Benz, Robert Bosch GmbH, and the second-largest Indian IT-company Infosys took place. Furthermore, a round-table discussion with Indian members of parliament and CEOs of Indian and German companies was organised in cooperation with CII.