German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in India on Monday for a two-day official visit. Ukraine and security will be central to the relationship with New Delhi during this trip, where he will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Merz landed early at Ahmedabad international airport, where he was received by the governor of the state of Gujarat, Acharya Devvrat, at the start of his first official visit to India since taking office. A German government spokesman, Steffen Meyer, said on Friday that Berlin, like the European Union, is pressuring India to prevent its companies from evading sanctions imposed on Russia and to reduce its imports of Russian energy. The German Chancellor is scheduled to meet with Modi in Ahmedabad on Monday, a key meeting for reviewing bilateral cooperation and where new ways to intensify exchanges in trade, investment, and development, among other areas, are expected to be agreed upon. Germany, India's main trading partner in the European Union, has also reiterated its support for the rapid conclusion of a free trade agreement between Brussels and New Delhi. The visit comes after both leaders last met on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada and ahead of a planned summit between India and the European Union for January 27. According to the European Parliament, if that summit is confirmed, both sides are expected to reach a final agreement on the free trade treaty after the intense negotiations of recent months.
