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The significance of Vajpayee's visit to Germany

By K. K. Katyal

NEW DELHI MAY 23. The only bilateral part of the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee's coming trip abroad is the three-day visit to Germany and, for that reason, it stands apart from the other two occasions, important no doubt in their own right, his presence at the ceremony to mark 300 years of the great Russian city, St. Petersburg and participation in the meeting of G-8 plus 12 others in Avion in France.

The German visit is significant both as a milestone in the development of bilateral relations with India and also because of its timing, coinciding as it does with the crucial phase in Europe, on the one hand and in South Asia, on the other. Germany would like Europe, the most ancient democracy, to be taken into account, to a higher degree, as a natural partner of India, politically and economically. This is no mean objective, given the logic (or illogic) of the unipolar world, which Germany, like France and others, proposes to pursue diligently.

In the bilateral context, Mr. Vajpayee and his German interlocutors will focus on economic issues — trade, investment and the like. The joint economic commission, which had not been functional for over three years, is intended to be reactivated. True, in this era of free enterprise, it is the role of private entrepreneurs rather than of officials that matters but the government, through various organs, does act as a trigger and, to that extent, the paralysis of the joint commission had been a negative input. This deficiency is now proposed to be remedied.

India's trade with Germany has been balanced — with last year seeing a surplus in New Delhi's favour — but the composition of the export basket has changed only marginally over the years. There has been a noticeable increase in the supply of information technology services, but otherwise exports confine to be limited to traditional items — garments, textiles, jewellery and leather goods. Germany would like investments to be stepped up in both the directions but finds red tape and bureaucratic ways in India a big impediment (that, incidentally, has been the complaint of other major powers — France and Japan, to cite two cases). Germany is known to be keen on greater involvement in the infrastructure construction in India. It has shown interest in sharing railway technology and in the supply of airbus, a joint venture of France, Germany, the U.K. and Spain, for the Indian Airlines.

It was no coincidence that the German President, Johannes Rau, during his visit here in March this year, focussed on the economic agenda and the steps to increase economic exchanges with India as also on ways to promote cooperation in science and technology. To fully exploit the untapped potential, he called for dismantling the trade and investment barriers.

European unity

To be a worthy partner to India, Europe, as Germany sees it, has to be united. Unity is also considered necessary for Europe to play an effective role in world affairs. As the German Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer, said in a recent interview "we must now concentrate on ensuring that Europe (European Union) receives a good constitution, so that the EU can assume the role of a true partner in the trans-Atlantic relationship." Mr. Vajpayee is certain to hear a lot about the German perception of a united Europe — with a European Council, permanent presidency and permanent foreign minister, common military strategy, based on a clear definition of common security interests and means to execute it, with strengthened European capacity for rapid deployment.

This account will be incomplete without narration of how the Iraq crisis divided Europe between those who opposed unilateral action by the U.S. and others who supported Washington. Mr. Vajpayee will get a first-hand account of the efforts now on, for a central role for the U.N. in the post-Saddam Iraq.

Germany, like others in the West, showed great interest in the Vajpayee initiative for peace in the subcontinent. It enthusiastically hailed the momentum generated in the last few weeks and endorsed the Indian position on the urgency of putting an end to cross-border terrorism.

India noted with satisfaction the positive reaction to its move by Germany — by the EU which warmly welcomed the "intention of both countries (India and Pakistan) to resume diplomatic relations and restore civil aviation links" and encouraged "India and Pakistan to seize this opportunity as the first step in a process of building confidence, normalising bilateral relations and resolving their outstanding differences, including Kashmir, in a peaceful way."

It is not publicly known that the E.U. offered to play a role in the reconstruction of Jammu and Kashmir within the framework of economic cooperation with India. New Delhi did not accept this idea.

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