Towards Europe: on the India visits by the leaders of Germany, Spain  

The back-to-back visits to India by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez indicate an attempt by New Delhi to engage with Europe’s biggest economies bilaterally. While Mr. Scholz’s visit was a scheduled engagement for the bi-annual Inter-Government Consultations, this was his third visit since 2023; Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Germany in 2022. Thus, there were MoUs on innovation and technology, skilling and mobility, and green energy cooperation, as well as improving trade, pegged at $26 billion, with about $27 billion in German investments. The conversation over trade and investment intensified with both leaders attending the Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business, a first in India, amidst an attempt by German businesses to reduce their exposure in China. The two-day visit of Mr. Sánchez (officially called the President of the Government of Spain) shone a spotlight on unnoticed India-Spain bilateral ties. Trade is nearly $10 billion, and Spain is India’s 16th largest investor. Despite its relatively lower stakes in India’s economy, Spain is increasingly seen as a technology and engineering partner; one of the MoUs signed was for rail transport. The highlight of the visit was the inauguration of an Airbus-Tata private sector plant to assemble C-295 aircraft for the Indian Air Force. It did not go unnoticed that the visits were scheduled close to each other, even as Germany and Spain are competing for defence deals, indicating New Delhi’s desire to diversify its options.

The timing of the visits followed just after Mr. Modi’s Russia visit for the BRICS summit, and his meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which show how India continues to balance ties amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict. India expressed deep concerns over the loss of life in the Ukraine conflict and the need for lasting peace, in the joint statements with Germany and Spain. But the statements differed to a degree in the paragraphs on the West Asian crisis. The statement with Germany squarely condemned Hamas for its actions on October 7 last year, and called for the immediate release of Israeli hostages. The statement with Spain did not name Hamas, and emphasised the need to protect civilians and for all parties to comply with international law. Spain has taken a step away from other European countries by recognising Palestine and blocking all shipments of armaments including from India to Israel. It is important that India continues to engage with European countries individually, as well as with the European Union, especially with such evidence that even the closest partners have nuanced differences on geopolitical issues of the day.