Modi announces more German visas for Indians as Scholz visits

Germany will dramatically boost the number of skilled Indians it permits to work in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Friday as he hosted Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The German leader is on his third visit to India since last year, bringing several cabinet ministers for discussions between the leaders of the world's third- and fifth-largest economies.

Modi said the Scholz administration had decided to increase the number of visas granted annually to skilled Indian workers to 90,000, up from 20,000.

"I am confident this will give a new momentum to Germany's growth," he said.

"When India's dynamics and Germany's precision meet, when Germany's engineering and India's innovation meet... a better future is decided for the Indo-Pacific and the entire world."

India and Germany first signed a migration agreement two years ago to facilitate mobility for professionals and students.

Berlin has also pledged to make its visa application process less bureaucratic and to improve the recognition of Indian professional qualifications in Germany.

Scholz arrived in India late on Thursday, following on from a state visit in February 2023 and the G20 summit in New Delhi later that year.

India's foreign ministry said this week that the partnership between both countries had "deepened" over the years.

"In this world we need friends and allies –- just like India and Germany," Scholz said on social media platform X.

Germany and India are defence partners, and naval forces from both sides undertook a "maritime partnership exercise" earlier this week in the Indian Ocean.

The maiden exercise was aimed at "further strengthening the maritime connect between the two nations and interoperability between the navies", a statement from India's navy read Thursday.

But the two countries diverge over ties with Russia. While Germany strongly backs Ukraine, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week attended a BRICS summit where he embraced Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In contrast to Germany, Modi's government has maintained its longstanding ties with Moscow even as it also courts closer security partnerships with its Western allies.

Scholz's visit is also expected to discuss India's ambitious programme to scale up production of "green hydrogen", a clean energy source in demand in Germany as Russian oil and gas supplies have shrunk and Berlin seeks to meet its climate goals.

Scholz and his team are expected to travel to Goa on Saturday to inspect naval vessels before returning to Germany in the evening.