german companies have invested 12 billion euros in india in 2017 alone says german president frankwalter steinmeier in an exclusive interview with tois indrani bagchi on the eve of his visit to india his visit will take him to varanasi and chennai apart from holding discussions with prime minister narendra modi and president ram nath kovind excerptswith the government formation process finally over what should we expect from the new german government it took an unusually long time to form a government it is therefore good news that a stable government has now taken office and commenced work all around us liberal democracies are being put to the test it is our conviction that germanys success and reputation are based on liberal policies at home and good neighbourly relations with all countries germany has a lot to offer india in terms of technology for sustainable mobility and supply of energyhow do we take trade and investment forward given the lack of progress in the indiaeu fta our volume of trade has tripled in the past 10 years 1800 german companies have created over 400000 jobs in india german firms have invested 12 billion euros in india in the past year alone automotive engineering energy infrastructure smart city projects i will be accompanied on my trip to india by german business representatives drawn above all from small and mediumsized enterprises however in spite of these positive developments everyone involved feels they are still being held back we should therefore work at all levels to bring the indiaeu trade agreement rapidly to a successful conclusionwhat would you say would be the priorities india and germany should pursue in the coming months our cooperation is conceived for the long term back in the year 2000 germany and india launched a strategic partnership as a result our cabinets meet regularly an engagement we have entered into with very few countries outside europe pm modi visited germany twice last year we want to expand this exchange on both practical matters and strategic issues my state visit to india will also serve this aim indias dynamic economic and social development presents excellent opportunities for us to deepen our cooperation an inherent part of this as i see it is considering how we want to and how we are able to present a concerted response to the challenges of globalisationmaritime security is a big part in indias security matrix and interestingly germany appears to be taking an interest as well why given the dynamism of the powerful economies in asia we have a growing interest in an open and safe indian ocean through which a large part of german trade flows move as the host country of the international tribunal for the law of the sea germany has a particular interest in an international order based on binding law india and germanys interests in this question are very similar and we would like to enhance our cooperation with india and with all interested statesgermany plays an