Germany and India vowed to strengthen economic and security ties on Monday, as both look to reduce their dependence on China and hedge against US-driven uncertainty.
New Delhi is “reorienting its partnerships” amid high US tariffs, The Economic Times wrote, and Europe is the “most viable counterweight” to Washington’s economic pressure.
Germany’s chancellor, who met the Indian prime minister in Gujarat, said the EU and India could sign a landmark free trade agreement this month.
The world’s third- and fifth-largest economies have not traditionally had close defense ties, but geopolitical shifts are changing that calculus, too: Germany is building up its defense base as Russia’s threat grows, and Berlin is eager to weaken New Delhi’s defense ties with Moscow.