Trade, UNSC reforms and anti-terrorism strategies will be high on the agenda when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and German Chancellor Angela Merkel hold their summit meeting against the backdrop of the two countries getting elected as non-permanent members in the United Nations Security Council.
Dr Singh flew in here from Brussels on Saturday after attending the India-European Union summit for a working visit to Germany at the invitation of Merkel.
Dr Singh's talks with Merkel later in the day are expected to further enhance bilateral strategic partnership at a time when the ties between the two countries are marked by rapidly growing economic and trade ties.
Germany is India's largest trading partner in the 27-nation European Union with bilateral trade growing in the recent years to reach 13.4 billion Euros in 2008.
Bilateral trade decreased marginally to 13.09 billion Euro but has revived and is growing by over 15 per cent and has reached 9.80 billion Euro during January-August 2010.
Ahead of the talks, Dr Singh said India's engagement with Germany is strong and multi-faceted. Dr Singh said he was looking forward to reviewing with Chancellor Merkel the developments in bilateral cooperation in the areas of high technology, trade, investment, energy and education.
India and Germany will serve together on the UN Security Council as non-permanent members for a two-year period from January one, 2011.
Dr Singh and Merkel will also review the major regional and global issues, including the situation in Afghanistan and climate change, as well as the state of the global economy and the role of the G-20 in the recovery process.
Germany is also expected to take the line adopted by the EU at its summit with India yesterday in Brussels on the need for Pakistan to act expeditiously to bring to justice the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack.
The EU while denouncing terrorism wanted terror camps to be closed wherever they exist. Earlier, Germany had said Pakistan is "not doing enough" to combat terrorism, noting that the situation in that country is an issue of "central concern" to it.
German ambassador to India Thomas Matussek had said the internal situation in Pakistan is "unstable." Matussek had said it would in the interest of the international community if the Pakistan security apparatus "chase out" Al Qaeda and other terror elements from the country. "If Pakistan goes down...It will affect countries like India,"he had said, adding efforts should be made to strengthen the democratic legitimacy of civilian rule.
"The situation in Pakistan is an issue of central concern to us. The internal situation in Pakistan is unstable. Pakistan is not doing enough to combat terrorism," Matussek said.
Matussek's comments had came against the backdrop of American and European officials having recently detected a plot to carry out a major, coordinated series of commando-style terror attacks in Britain, France, Germany and possibly the US.
The new threat to France, Germany, Britain and to the US is coming from Pakistan, according to western intelligence officials. Several teams of attackers, all with European passports, had been reportedly trained and dispatched from training camps in Pakistan.
Replying to questions, Matusset said the security and stability of Afghanistan is directly linked to Germany's own security. In Matusset's view, the Pakistan Army cannot play any role to bring stability in Afghanistan.
Matusset also made a strong pitch for India and the EU to evolve joint strategies to fight terrorism. Germany had also backed India's bid to gain membership of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group(NSG), applauding this country's "excellent" non-proliferation track record.
"We will give support for India for its NSG membership...Even without India not becoming a NPT signatory. We value India's commitment to non-proliferation. We appreciate its track record despite not being a party to NPT."
Mattusek said Germany would like India to ensure that the Civil Nuclear Liability bill and its implementation rules will address the "legitimate concerns" of the foreign suppliers of atomic equipment.
Germany can supply turbine equipment and nuclear safety technology to India, he said. Mattusek made a strong pitch for selling Eurofighter Typhoon combat jets to India, saying it is also ready to forego the End-User Monitoring Agreement and offer complete transfer of technology.
Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy have come together to pitch for the Typhoon. India plans to buy 126 fighter aircraft under the Indian Air Force's multi-billion dollar medium multi-role combat aircraft(MMRCA) project.
Referring to UN Security Council reforms, the ambassador said India and Germany should work together in realising their aspirations to get a permanent seat in the prestigious policy making body. India and Germany along with Brazil and Japan comprise the G-4 which is aspiring for a seat on the high table.
"We are in the same boat," he said when asked how he reckons chances of India and Germany to become a permanent member. The two countries have got non-permanent membership for two years from January 1, 2010.