Rajnath Singh on Germany visit from Tuesday for defence cooperation; submarine deal talks likely

NEW DELHI: Defence minister Rajnath Singh is on an official three-day visit to Germany from Tuesday to strengthen the strategic defence partnership between the two countries. Rajnath is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with his German counterpart Boris Pistorius and other senior leaders of the govt.Though there is no official statement, Rajnath is likely to talk with his German counterpart about the proposed Indo-German deal for building six next-generation conventional submarines in India under Project 75I (P-75I). India and Germany have been trying to finalise the submarine deal, which may cost India Rs 70,000 crore to Rs 99,000 crore ($8–12 billion), for quite some time. The six submarines are expected to be built in India by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders in Mumbai in collaboration with German defence major Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems.The minister’s discussions will focus on enhancing defence industrial collaboration, strengthening military-to-military engagements, and exploring opportunities in emerging domains such as cyber security, AI and drones, a release from the defence ministry said. A defence industrial cooperation roadmap and implementing arrangement for cooperation in UN peacekeeping operations training are likely to be signed in the presence of both defence ministers, it said.Rajnath’s visit will provide an opportunity to review the ongoing defence cooperation initiatives and identify new avenues for collaboration between the defence industries of both countries. He is also expected to interact with key representatives of the German defence industry, with a view to promoting joint development and co-production under the Make-in-India initiative, the release said.The defence minister’s visit to Germany comes after seven years. The last visit by an Indian defence minister to Germany was by Nirmala Sitharaman in Feb 2019. Pistorius had last visited India in June 2023 and held extensive talks with Rajnath.