German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was due to start a two-day visit to India on Monday, making the most populous country with its 1.4 billion inhabitants his first major Asian destination as head of the government in Berlin.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is reciprocating the unusual preferential treatment with a special and very rare gesture of appreciation, receiving Merz in Ahmedabad in his home region Gujarat, where he plans to show him national hero Mahatma Gandhi's work area and also the traditional kite festival on the Sabarmati River.
The usual political talks are also expected to take place in Modi's home city.
On Tuesday the trip continues to Bengaluru, formerly Bangalore, the centre of India's high-tech industry, where the focus is expected to be economic cooperation.
For the first time, Merz is set to be accompanied by a large business delegation comprising more than 23 executives from large and medium-sized German companies, including Siemens, Airbus Defence and Space and Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems.
Merz is not scheduled to visit New Delhi, the Indian capital, which is unusual for an inaugural visit.
Since taking office in May, the chancellor has mainly visited partners in Europe and North America.
He now intends to devote more attention to other world regions. In November he was at the Group of 20 and EU-Africa summits in South Africa and Angola, and before that at the climate change summit in Brazil.
Now Merz shifts his focus more directly to Asia.
It is noteworthy that Merz is visiting India ahead of China, the most important sales market for German businesses in Asia, and ahead of Japan, the only Asian partner in the Group of Seven (G7) group of leading democratic economic powers.
Merz making India his first Asian visit has above all to do with the current upheaval in the world order. Proven alliances such as the trans-Atlantic partnership between Europe and North America are becoming less reliable.
Germany is therefore striving to broaden its partnerships and reduce dependencies on individual major powers, especially on the United States in the security sphere and on China in economic cooperation.
By choosing India as his first destination, Merz wants to demonstrate his new policy goals.
Although close with Russia, India moves between worlds and maintains close relations with both Russia and Western countries. Modi only received Russian President Vladimir Putin in December in New Delhi and is linked to Russia through the BRICS group of states.
India continues to import Russian oil on a large scale, and Putin finances his war against Ukraine with those proceeds. India has not condemned the war in the UN General Assembly, unlike most other countries, but with its contacts to Russia could perhaps be helpful in diplomatic efforts to end the war.
All this is expected to be on the agenda during Merz's visit.
India also has close ties to Russia because its armed forces are still predominantly equipped by Moscow. Germany would like to help change that.
Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems is currently negotiating the sale of six submarines to the Indian Navy. There is also interest in India in the Airbus A400M transport aircraft.
No concrete deals are likely to be concluded during the German chancellor's visit, though a declaration of intent by the two defence ministries to strengthen cooperation between the defence companies of both countries is to be signed.
Strengthened economic cooperation could also help loosen India's ties to Russia.
"Given its economic dynamism, its young population and its growing industrial base, India is rapidly gaining relevance for our companies," said German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) executive board member Volker Treier.
So far India ranks 23rd among Germany's trading partners.
A boost would come from concluding a free trade agreement between the European Union and India. Negotiations began 18 years ago and were interrupted for several years in between.
An agreement at the EU-India summit planned for the end of January is not yet in sight.
Merz also plans to discuss the recruitment of skilled workers from India. The previous German centre-left coalition government decided on a dedicated strategy in October 2024.
The number of full-time Indian employees in Germany rose between 2015 and 2025 from just under 25,000 to just under 170,000, according to the Federal Employment Agency.
And with just under 60,000, the largest group of foreign students comes from India.
