Indian, German Leaders Renew Push for Deeper EU-India Trade Ties

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met in Berlin this week, calling for renewed efforts towards boosting trade ties between New Delhi and the European Union. “It’s important for us to proceed with the German-Indian – or rather, the EU-Indian – free trade agreement,” said the German leader on Tuesday 30 May in Berlin, according to comments reported by Reuters. Merkel was referring a decade-old process to establish an accord between the two sides. “We will do a major push in Brussels to ensure that these negotiations progress again,” she added in a speech to business representatives. Separately, Merkel told reporters at a joint press conference that the two leaders discussed issues such as how to support the implementation of the UN’s Paris Agreement on climate change. Following his meeting with Merkel on Monday, Modi flagged on Twitter the discussions he had with his German counterpart on “ways to expand cooperation between our nations in areas such as trade, security, infrastructure, and energy.” In a post on social media site Facebook prior to the event, Modi said that he hoped India and Germany would “chart out a future roadmap of cooperation with focus on trade and...