Gandhinagar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is on four-nation visit today was received by German Chancellor Angela Merkel at Schloss Messeberg before a private dinner. The Prime Minister tweeted: Had a very good interaction with Chancellor Merkel.

According to official note by the government, Chancellor Angela Merkel hosted an informal dinner for Prime Minister Modi at the Schloss Meseberg, outside Berlin. The interaction lasted nearly three hours, and covered various areas of mutual interest including smart cities, skill development, clean energy etc. There was appreciation for India’s economic reform agenda, including GST.

The leaders reviewed regional and global issues. Prime Minister Modi reiterated the importance of cohesiveness in the European Union, and its significance as a force of stability in the world.

On Afghanistan, both leaders reiterated the importance of an Afghan-led Afghan-owned reconciliation process. Issues such as deradicalization and terrorism figured in the discussions. China’s belt and road initiative, and climate change, also figured in the discussions.

Earlier, on arrival at the Schloss Meseberg, Prime Minister Modi signed the visitor’s book. The two leaders took a stroll on the lawns of the country residence.

Prime Minister is in Germany for the 4th Indo-German Inter-governmental Consultations. This is a unique format India has with Germany wherein both the leaders are assisted by ministers to carry forward bilateral and global discussions.

PM  arrived in Berlin on 29th in the evening. Same day in the evening he had a meeting scheduled with Chancellor Merkel at Schloss Meseberg which is the country retreat of the German Chancellor. Both the leaders  discussed issues of regional and global importance over dinner there. The following day i.e. on 30th May, PM and Chancellor Merkel will hold the 4th IGC to review the state of our bilateral relations.

The talk will be assisted by several ministers from both sides. Both the leaders will be taking stock of where we stand on the decisions that were taken at the 3rd IGC which was held in New Delhi in October 2015. They will also talk about what are the future issues that the two sides will like to look into so as to strengthen and deepen Indo-German relations further.

Some of the ministers who will be participating from Indian side include Minister for Science & Technology Dr. Harshvardhan, Minister for New and Renewable Energy Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister for State for Commerce and Industry, Smt. Nirmala Seetharaman and Minister of State for External Affairs Shri M J Akbar.

Similarly, from the German side, the Foreign Minister of Germany Mr. Sigmar Gabriel, Education Minister Mrs. Johanna Wanka, Transport Minister Mr. Dobrindt, Development Cooperation Minister Mr. Gerd Muller and Environment Minister Ms. Barbara Hendricks, Economic Minister Ms. Brigitte Zypries will be participating.

Several MoUs are expected to be signed. Thereafter PM and Chancellor Merkel will jointly address India-German Business Summit. Before that they will interact with a select group of CEOs keeping in mind that economic relations with Germany is most important pillar of our partnership. It has preponderance over other areas.

Towards late afternoon Prime Minister will call on German President, His Excellency Dr. Frank-Walter Stein Meier and thereafter in the evening he will depart for Spain.

Germany and India are strategic partners. India has a strategic partnership going back to 2000, our economic partnership is very strong. It is the largest trade partner for India in the European Union. It is also one of the leading sources of Foreign Direct Investment into India. India has more than 1600 German companies and 600 joint ventures here in India and German economic profile supports excellence, expertise match into India’s development priorities be it Make in India, Clean India, Skill India, Digital India, Smart Cities so on and so forth.

Skill cooperation is an important component.  Germany has global reputation of Dual-Vet system of training. India has initiated cooperation on the skill side and India wants to take it further, several areas of work is underway. India looks forward to deepening this particular aspect of our bilateral cooperation during the visit. Germany is one of India’s leading technology partners, it is also one of our science & technology partners. In the field of education India has  large number of students now going to Germany. On the global partnership,  two countries are continuously engaged on several global issues of common concerns including expansion of the UN Security Council.