NEW DELHI: Shedding hesitations of the past,
Germany
now wants to strongly boost strategic-defence cooperation with India in areas ranging from arms sales and joint production of advanced military hardware like submarines to military interoperability in the
Indo-Pacific
in the backdrop of China's aggressive muscle-flexing in the region.
"We have earlier been very hesitant.
Now, there is clear political will in Germany to increase defence cooperation with India through military visits, exercises, co-production and other areas, including new ones like cyber," German ambassador
Philipp Ackermann
said, in an exclusive interview with TOI.
The "huge paradigm shift" in Germany's strategic thinking is primarily due to the "wake-up call" following Russia's invasion of
Ukraine
as well as China's expansionist behaviour in violation of the international rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific.
"We want to boost cooperation with our strategic partners outside the Nato area. Germany feels India is a very good partner in this region for strategic cooperation because we have so many common interests and values. In our military and strategic thinking, we think in terms of alliances, never alone," Ackermann said.
"We feel it's important to have a very strong presence in the Indo-Pacific to guarantee freedom of navigation. We have seen activities in the South China Sea and Indo-Pacific where one country (read China) is showing teeth. There is a lot of global and German concern about this," he added.
As part of the Indo-Pacific deployments, a huge contingent of 32 German aircraft, including eight Eurofighter and 12 Tornado jets as well as Airbus-300 MRTT tankers and Airbus-400M military transport planes, along with 15 French and Spanish aircraft, will take part in IAF's largest multi-nation 'Tarang Shakti' exercise (Phase-1) in Coimbatore in Aug. Then, a frontline German frigate and combat support ship will also be visiting Goa in Oct.
"Our aim is to increase interoperability with India and other like-minded countries in the Indo-Pacific like the US, Japan, Europe and Australia. We never go alone. There is a clear commitment from our side that we should increase our military visits and exercises with India," the ambassador said.
On the defence production front, Germany is one of the two main contenders in India's long-delayed over Rs 42,000 crore project to build six advanced stealth diesel-electric submarines with foreign collaboration.
Towards this, an MoU to cooperate in submarine production was inked between defence shipyard Mazagon Docks (MDL) and German company ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (
TKMS
) in the presence of visiting German defence minister Boris Pistorius in June last year. Spanish firm Navantia is the other foreign contender in this mega 'Project-75 India' project.
"The (selection) process is still ongoing. The decision is for India to take. But there is clear willingness and preparedness from the German side to support this Indian project," Ackermann said.
"The first group of Indian naval officers will be visiting Germany to evaluate the boats, which offer AIP (air-independent propulsion for greater underwater endurance), in the next 10 days. We have put a good offer on the table and are ready to fine-tune it further. The German government is very supportive of the TKMS proposal with MDL," he said.
Germany is also ready to supply A400M transport aircraft, A330 MRTT mid-air refuelling aircraft, heavyweight torpedoes and spare parts for small arms, among other things, to India.
"The next level in the bilateral defence cooperation will be to sit with India and figure out what we can develop together. India does it with countries like the US and France. So, why not with Germany? That will be the next step. The thinking has now started," Ackermann said.
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