India and Germany eye defence industry boost to ties

Merz said Berlin also wants a closer security partnership with New Delhi, including deeper "cooperation between our defence industries" to cut India's traditional dependence on Russia for military hardware. Merz began his two-day India visit -- his first to Asia since taking office in May -- two weeks ahead of an EU-India summit and as India and the European bloc are working on a free trade agreement. Both countries announced several agreements and joint declarations after the leaders' meeting with an aim to boost their $50 billion trade.