In November, representatives of the Indian and German foreign ministries and think tankers met online for the second Indo-German Track 1.5 Dialogue. The format was launched in 2019 in the context of intergovernmental consultations between the two countries. This year’s discussions focused on the challenges and potential for cooperation in foreign and security policy as well as trade and economics.
This year's partners on the German side were the Bertelsmann Stiftung, the German Institute for Global and Regional Studies (GIGA), the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) and the Federal Foreign Office. The Indian partner institutions are the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) and the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The dialogue was opened with keynote speeches by German Minister of State Niels Annen and Secretary of State Harsh Vardhan Shringla from the Indian Foreign Ministry.
The discussion on foreign and security policy revolved around the Indo-Pacific and Germany’s recently published strategy on the same, perspectives on China, and the role of the United States in the region. In the session on trade, an emphasis was put on the pending free trade negotiations India and the European Union, their potential for cooperation in science and technology, the resilience of global value chains as well as investment.
