NEW DELHI: Newly appointed German Ambassador to India Jasper Wieck on Thursday met defence secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, with the two sides discussing India-Germany defence cooperation and the wider strategic partnership. The engagement comes as both countries seek to deepen military and defence-industrial ties, including cooperation in advanced technologies and maritime security.The meeting follows a series of high-level India-Germany defence engagements this year. In April, defence minister Rajnath Singh and German defence minister Boris Pistorius agreed to strengthen co-development and co-production of defence equipment, particularly in niche technologies, while India and Germany also signing a Defence Industrial Cooperation Roadmap aimed at long-term industry-level collaboration.A major element of the expanding partnership is Project-75(I), under which Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders are expected to build six next-generation conventional submarines in India with substantial technology transfer. Wieck said in Sept that the agreement had been finalised on the German side and was awaiting completion of India’s internal processes.Meanwhile, India and Greece also discussed defence and strategic cooperation with a focus on maritime security, coastal security and shipbuilding as the defence secretary met Greece’s deputy minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy Stefanos Gkikas in New Delhi. The engagement highlights the growing maritime dimension of the India-Greece Strategic Partnership.The two sides emphasise their shared interests as major maritime nations, including the need to ensure the safety and security of seafarers.The discussions bring together defence cooperation with the wider maritime domain, covering areas that are important for secure sea lanes, coastal protection and naval capability development. The engagement builds on a broader expansion of India-Greece defence ties.
Inaugural session of Indo-Russian working group meet
The inaugural session of the 24th Working Group meeting of the India-Russia intergovernmental commission on Military Technical Cooperation and Defence Industry was held in New Delhi.The session was co-chaired by secretary (defence production) Sanjeev Kumar and first deputy director, FSMTC Andrey A Boytsov, from Russia.Senior officials from both countries joined the deliberations. The discussions were focused on reviewing existing military-technical cooperation and forging co-production and co-development initiatives to further cement the India-Russia strategic partnership in defence.
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