Thursday, April 15, 2010

Germany and India sign Umbrella Agreements on Indo-German Cooperation

Today, India and Germany signed three Umbrella Agreements for 2009 on Indo-German Cooperation. The first one is for Indo-German Technical Cooperation and the second for Indo-German Financial Cooperation. Additionally, a third agreement was signed for Technical Cooperation Programmes financed by the Federal Ministry for Environment & Nuclear Safety under the German government's International Climate Initiative.  German Ambassador Thomas Matussek and Joint Secretary in the Indian Ministry of Finance Dr Alok Sheel signed the agreements on behalf of their respective governments.

The agreements amount to a total of 410 million euro (appx. INR 2460 crore). This, once again, puts India in the top position for Germany's entire bilateral development cooperation.

In 2008 the governments of India and Germany launched a jointly prepared Strategic Framework of Indo-German Bilateral Development Cooperation. This strategic framework outlines the guiding principles and priority areas of Indo-German development cooperation today. According to this, the priority areas are sustainable economic development, environmental protection and energy.

The next step in Indo-German development cooperation is already on the cards. On 3 and 4 May, 2010, the annual government consultations will take place to prepare the ground for the signing of similar Umbrella Agreements for 2010.

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