Citing Energy Security, Rajnath Singh Seeks Trusted India-Germany Defence Cooperation
Berlin: India’s Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh called for enhanced defence industrial partnerships with Germany on Monday, telling lawmakers in Berlin that “Aatmanirbhar Bharat is not merely a procurement programme; it is an invitation to co-create, co-develop, and co-innovate.”
Addressing the German Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence and Security on the first day of his three-day visit, Rajnath Singh said new security threats and rapid technological shifts demand a fresh approach. “The situation is highly complex and intricately connected. A new approach with the willingness to adapt to the changing environment is the need of the hour,” he said.
The Raksha Mantri pointed to India’s defence sector transformation under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said German industry could see significant mutual gains from deeper ties. He praised the strengths of Germany’s leading firms and the “vigour and dynamism” of the German Mittelstand in emerging technologies, adding that India’s start-ups and private companies are similarly boosting the capabilities of established defence enterprises. “This is an area where India and Germany naturally complement each other,” he said.
On global security, Rajnath Singh said current instability cannot be treated as regional, citing direct impacts on energy security, food security, and economic stability. “For a developing country like India, which relies on the West Asian region for a significant share of its energy requirements, disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz are not distant events,” he told the committee. “They are stark realities with direct implications for our security and economic stability.”
He said India has adopted a proactive strategy, with a Group of Ministers on West Asia continuously assessing the situation to safeguard energy supplies, maintain essential commodities, contain inflation, and protect citizens and industry. “This reflects India’s capacity to respond to global crises with calmness, foresight, and effective institutional coordination,” he noted.
Rajnath Singh underscored that Prime Minister Modi and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz have emphasized advancing the bilateral strategic partnership. He also pointed to “clear convergence of views” at the EU level and growing momentum for the India–EU Defence and Strategic Partnership.
“India and Germany are not only strategic partners, but also consequential voices in shaping the global discourse,” he said, describing both as established democracies bound by shared values. “When the chronicles of this era are penned, the India-Germany partnership will stand as a paragon of diplomacy, crafted not in response to crisis, but through the steady resolve of two mature democracies choosing to walk this path together.”
The interaction was hosted by Committee Chairman and Member of Parliament Thomas Roewekamp. Earlier, Rajnath Singh paid floral tributes to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore at Humboldt University, recalling Tagore’s deep early 20th-century ties with German thinkers and artists. Germany played a key role in introducing Tagore’s work across Europe.
The Raksha Mantri was received at Berlin Airport with military honours. He travelled from Munich to Berlin in a Special German Air Force aircraft escorted by fighter jets.
