New Delhi: External affairs minister S Jaishankar, on Wednesday, said that the shifting global order is compelling nations to rethink their strategies and partnerships. He held a high-level meeting with German deputy foreign minister Johann Wadephul during the day and said that the current geopolitical and economic turbulence makes closer collaboration between India, Germany and the European Union (EU) essential.
Without naming the US directly, he made it clear that India was looking for alternatives after Washington imposed 50% tariffs on Indian goods, 25% of this as a punitive duty for purchasing Russian crude.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had earlier called this decision by US president Donald Trump ‘unreasonable’ and highlighted that the country’s purchase of oil from Russia was guided by economic needs and had nothing to do with financing the war in Ukraine, as claimed by Washington.
“The changes we see in the world today do influence our policies and do influence the manner in which we approach other countries,” Jaishankar said on Wednesday.
“We are witnessing significant and far-reaching changes on the global strategic landscape. We’re also seeing a lot of volatility on the global economic landscape and I think together they make a very powerful case for India and the European Union and India and Germany to work much more closely with each other,” he added.
Jaishankar, after his meeting with Wadephul, highlighted that the India-Germany relationship has vast potential for rapid growth, especially amid mounting trade tensions with Washington and Brussels.
“This is a relationship where there are considerable possibilities for fairly rapid growth… Today, our conversation was mostly devoted to the bilateral part,” he said.
“The minister was kind enough to assure me that Germany would also put its full weight behind the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations with the European Union. So, the bottom-line answer is yes. There are big changes underway in the world. Those changes make a very compelling case for a deeper, stronger, wider India-Germany relationship,” the minister said.
Wadephul, who is on a two-day visit to India, had earlier travelled to Bengaluru to engage with Indian tech and innovation leaders before arriving in the capital for formal talks.
India and the EU are negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) to enhance their $190 billion annual trade in goods. The talks, currently underway in Brussels, have been slowed by disagreements over key issues such as import taxes, environmental rules and labour standards.
The EU is pressing India to cut duties on cars and dairy products while demanding stricter climate and labour commitments. Conversely, India is determined to protect its farmers, avoid binding green regulations, and retain control over legal dispute mechanisms.
“We count on your support to deepen our relationship with the European Union and expedite the FTA negotiation,” Jaishankar told Wadephul at the start of their meeting.
Commerce minister Piyush Goyal confirmed on Tuesday that technical-level discussions are ongoing, with both sides aiming to finalise the pact by year-end.
Till now, India has put up a brave front against Trump’s tariff war. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, China, where he met the presidents of China and Russia. The leaders discussed the ongoing situation during the meetings and spoke on closer ties.