The President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Horst Kohler, arrived here on Monday for a six-day visit during which he will meet top political leaders, hold discussions on the financial crisis and explore prospects for greater trade and investment ties between the two countries.
Although the four pacts envisaged to be signed during his visit still remain at various stages of formulation, Dr. Kohler, a former International Monetary Fund chief, will touch on all key aspects of the bilateral relationship and in particular focus on India’s experience in tackling the global financial meltdown and its views on the reform of multilateral financial institutions.
As a non-executive President, he will dwell broadly on issues of common concern but will be seeking to give a push to trade and investment ties in particular and promote alliances in science and technology. Keeping this in view , Dr. Kohler has several engagements . These include an interaction with industry representatives on Tuesday, organised jointly by the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry and the Confederation of Indian Industries.
On Wednesday, he will meet Indian intellectuals at Max Mueller Bhavan followed by a visit to the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, to inaugurate the Indo-German Max Planck Center for Computer Science along with Science & Technology Minister Prithviraj Chavan.
To meet RBI chief
The German President will travel to the automobile hub of Pune on Thursday to tour the new Volkswagen plant and the Indian environment and energy company Thermax. On his Mumbai lap, Dr. Kohler will visit the Taj Mahal Hotel in remembrance of the victims of the 26/11 terror attack and also pay a visit to the synagogue in Fort area. On February 5, he will hold discussions on India’s experience with the fallout of the global financial crisis with RBI Governor D. Subbarao and Chief General Manager Grace Koshie.
“His first official visit to India underlines the increasing importance of the strategic partnership between Germany and India. It is expected to further strengthen bilateral ties, including the forthcoming ‘Year of Germany in India 2011 – 2012’, which will showcase areas of mutual interest,” said a German Embassy statement.
