Why should Germany work more with India?

The Indo-German relationship should have been a match made in heaven. India was one of the first countries to grant diplomatic recognition to the Federal Republic of Germany; this March, the two countries celebrated 70 years of diplomatic relations. Germany and India have a strategic partnership; both have been holding cabinet-level bilateral consultations since 2011; in September 2020, the German government laid out its Indo-Pacific guidelines, illustrating its interest and commitment to a region where India is a key protagonist. And yet, something has been missing from the Indo-German cooperation. Policy-makers on both sides frequently scratch their heads as to why this relationship falls short of the high expectations that are associated with it. Last year presented us once again with an illustration of just how big the gap is between expectation and reality: the European Union – interestingly at the time when Germany held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union – signed the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) with China; for some arguments on the problems with this deal, see here. Stepping up cooperation and dialogue with India is now a European priority, but it has taken the arrival of the Portuguese presidency to elevate India to this status.