Event reports
The main topic during the discussions between Indian and German Parliamentarians were the recent state elections in Delhi and four other states. Taking the results into account, the delegation discussed the perspectives of the central elections in 2014. Most of the Indian counterparts guess, that the future Indian government will face a lot of internal challenges: high ranking members of the cabinet like Dr. Mallipudi Raju Pallam Mangapati, Union Minister for Human Resource Development and Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy explained, that education and training as well as sourcing of renewable energies have a lot of similarities with the progression in Germany. Both the ministers were interested in an intensive dialogue on the German dual education system and on the new German energy policy.
Another highlight of the political dialogue programme was the exchange with representatives of the political youth organizations. The biggest organizations of the Indian National Congress Party (INC) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under the leadership of Rajeev Satav, president of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) and MP Anurag Thakur, president of the All India Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), underlined their intention, to intensify the international party relations with the Junge Union and the members of the YEPP in Europe.
In other discussions, the German Parliamentarians debated foreign and security policy related questions with experts and the challenges for India in the region. For both the sides, it became clear, that India’s global and regional claim to leadership will be defined by the strategic components Afghanistan, Pakistan Iran and China and their interests. The German Parliamentarians, who clarified the strategic plan of Germany for India and the region in the discussions as well as in an interview with „The Statesman“, underlined the special role of Afghanistan and the future challenges after the retreat of the army in the coming year for the international community as well as for the German foreign policy.
The biggest chance from the German and Indian perspective seems to be the potential of the bilateral trade and investments. During the discussions with Indian Parliamentarian and representatives from the economy, also the risks regarding legal security of foreign investors and some reforms were debated. During the visit of the German Centre in Gurgaon, the German Parliamentarians got a chance to share their experiences and perspectives on the investment climate in India with representatives of German enterprises.
