German Chancellor Friedrich Merz Visits India

At the invitation of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the Chancellor of Germany, Mr. Friedrich Merz, paid an official visit to India from 12–13 January 2026. This marked Chancellor Merz’s first official visit to India and his first visit to Asia since assuming office, underscoring Germany’s growing strategic focus on India in the Indo-Pacific.

Strategic Partnership Reaffirmed

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chancellor Friedrich Merz reaffirmed their commitment to significantly deepen bilateral ties across a wide spectrum, including defence and security, economic cooperation, technology, climate action, and people-to-people exchanges.

The visit coincided with key milestones in bilateral relations:

• 25 years of India–Germany Strategic Partnership (completed in 2025)
• 75 years of diplomatic relations (to be marked in 2026)

High-Level Business and Industry Engagement

Chancellor Merz was accompanied by a high-level delegation of 23 leading German CEOs and industry leaders, highlighting the strong emphasis on economic collaboration, industrial partnerships and investment opportunities between the two countries.

Enhanced Defence and Security Cooperation

The two leaders agreed to further strengthen defence and security cooperation, welcoming progress achieved through:

• Institutionalised staff talks
• Service-level exchanges
• Joint military exercises

They endorsed deeper military-to-military cooperation, including:

• Training programmes
• Naval port calls
• Senior-level exchanges

Both sides also welcomed the establishment of a new Track 1.5 Foreign Policy and Security Dialogue to enhance strategic consultations.

Germany’s Participation in Indian Defence Engagements

India welcomed Germany’s expanding role in regional and multilateral defence engagements, including:

• Naval Exercise MILAN
• Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) Conclave of Chiefs, February 2026
• Air Combat Exercise TARANG SHAKTI, later in 2026

India also appreciated Germany’s decision to deploy a Liaison Officer to the Information Fusion Centre–Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR), strengthening maritime domain awareness and regional security cooperation.