File photo of Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. | Photo Credit: PTI
Ahead of the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to India later this month, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his German counterpart Boris Pistorius discussed ways to further strengthen defence industrial collaboration and supply chain resilience in a telephonic conversation on Tuesday (October 8, 2024).
Mr. Scholz’s visit for inter-governmental consultations, scheduled in the second half of this month, come amid the much-awaited decision on the qualifying bids in the Indian Navy’s multi-billion dollar deal for six conventional submarines in which German company TKMS (Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems) is competing with Navantia of Spain. Close to that, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is also expected to visit India, likely in November, according to sources.
“They briefly reviewed the ongoing defence cooperation activities including exercises in the air and maritime domains. The Ministers discussed ways to further strengthen the defence industrial collaboration and enhance supply chain resilience,” a Ministry statement said on the telephonic conversation. The two Ministers plan to meet in the near future to give concrete shape to defence engagements and joint projects with an aim to transform defence as a key pillar of the India-Germany bilateral relationship, it added.
The Navy’s mega-submarine deal under the Project-75I, estimated upwards of ₹43,000 crore, has crossed a major milestone with the completion of Field Evaluation Trials (FET) to check the compliance of the two bids received. While an Indian Navy team visited the TKMS shipyard in March for the FET, the evaluation of Navantia’s offer was conducted in the last week of June, as reported by The Hindu earlier. While TKMS has partnered with Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, Navantia has partnered with Larsen & Toubro. The staff evaluation is in progress, a defence official said, without elaborating on the timeline.
During Mr. Scholz’s visit, ease of doing business, migration, geopolitics and climate change will be high on the agenda, German Ambassador to India Philipp Ackermann had earlier stated. In addition, the 18th Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business 2024 is also scheduled to be held in the national capital from October 24 to 26.
Published – October 08, 2024 09:11 pm IST
