Closer military cooperation with India

Germany and India have engaged in virtually no military cooperation to date. Now, however, the German government is gradually beginning to piece together the military side of its Indo-Pacific strategy - a bit like a puzzle. The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the tensions in the Indo-Pacific region and China’s increasing demonstrations of its power are contributing to the need to step up cooperation in this area too. 

India is a self-assured and important partner for Germany. The Indian Ocean is the link between Europe and the resource-rich Arab states on the one hand and Asia on the other. Nearly 60 percent of the world’s economic output and two thirds of global growth are generated in the Indo-Pacific, while more than 80 percent of global trade is shipped by sea. Through its engagement in the region, the German government is safeguarding not only the security but also the economic interests of Germany as an export nation. 

Boosting defence cooperation

In late February 2024, the defence ministers of India and Germany met in Berlin to discuss further cooperation. Philipp Ackermann, the German ambassador in New Delhi, talked in the “Times of India” newspaper of a “huge paradigm shift”. He explained that there was now a “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”.

One example of how cooperation is to be increased is through the manoeuvre “Tarang Shakti Phase 1” in August 2024, in which the German Air Force - the Luftwaffe - will take part for the first time. In the autumn of 2024, a German frigate, accompanied by a support vessel, is to call at a port on India’s west coast. In 2022, the German frigate “Bayern” had already docked at Mumbai on its return journey from the Pacific. 

Germany has not cultivated close ties with India in military terms to date. Nor is there any military alliance that both countries belong to. Increasingly, however, it is clear that the Western democracies, as well as Japan, South Korea and Australia, are keen to forge partnerships with India. India is for example a founding member of the “Quad” security dialogue initiated by Japan, a quartet that also involves Australia and the United States. 

In the summer of 2023, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius visited India after attending the Asian security summit “Shangri-La Dialogue” in Singapore. Germany has already provided submarines to the island state. India could likewise be an attractive market for Germany: a preliminary contract for the construction of submarines has already been signed, as has a contract involving the overhaul and refurbishment of the outdated Indian submarine “INS Shankush”. The submarine “INS Shishumar” had already been overhauled in 2018. Both submarines had been shipped from Germany to India in the 1980s, while two more had been built in India. 

During a trip to the Indo-Pacific region in the summer of 2023, the defence minister also sought closer ties with the Southeast Asian democracy Indonesia. Its neighbour Malaysia is also a focus for Germany. When Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim visited Berlin in March 2024, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasised: “Malaysia and Germany are established democracies. We are both committed to multilateralism and to upholding international law. It is therefore right for us to deepen our cooperation on security and defence policy. The defence ministries are already working on the necessary cooperation agreements.”