Marrying India’s IT prowess with German technology

Barely six weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Germany, Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen’s ongoing visit to New Delhi has set in motion a series of steps aimed at boosting defence and cyber security cooperation between the two countries.

The German minister met India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 28 and pitched for a win-win alliance of India’s IT prowess and German technology.

The minister noted that India has excellent human resource which is highly skilled in information technology, while Germany has the technology and knowhow. Working together would create a win-win situation for both of them, she stressed.

Focus on cyber security

According to recent reports, about one billion computers in Germany are infected with Botnet viruses, which makes the country vulnerable to cyber-attacks, making cybercrime a prime concern for the German defense industry. India too, suffered a loss of nearly four billion dollars due to cyber-attacks in 2014. Considering the importance of tackling cybercrime, the defense minister requested Mr Modi to send Indian IT experts to Germany to be a part of an international conference on cyber warfare being later this year. The conference will provide inputs for Germany’s National Defence Strategy, which is due in 2016.

Mr Modi, too, invited German companies to benefit from enormous opportunities in the field of defense manufacturing and research and development that India has to offer. He said that India considered Germany as an important partner in manufacturing and skill development.

The prime minister’s successful visit to Germany last month, where his strong pitch for ‘Make in India’ was received very well, oversaw the development of the India-Germany partnership on the global front. He, along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, inaugurated the Hannover Messe, the largest industrial fair in the world, where India was a partner country.

Ms Merkel is scheduled to visit India in October this year to take part in the Inter-Governmental Commission meeting, which is being seen as an opportunity by the two countries to deepen cooperation across all areas of bilateral relations.

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