Author: Press Trust of India
Publication: NDTV.com
Date: December 12, 2010
URL: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/terrorism-not-a-means-to-solve-political-problems-germany-72075
In a stern message to Pakistan, Germany has
made it clear that terrorism is not a means to solve political problems and
this is "unacceptable".
The concerns over terrorism figured during
wide-ranging talks Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had with German Chancellor
Angela Merkel in Berlin last night.
"It has been made clear to Pakistan that
terrorism is not a means to an end to solve political problems. It is unacceptable,"
Merkel said at a joint press interaction with Singh.
The Prime Minister said that both sides discussed
the possibility of entering into bilateral cooperation in civil nuclear energy.
If this crystalises, Germany will follow the
US, France and some other countries for civil nuclear cooperation with India.
Singh said India deeply valued Germany's consistent
support in the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group for the opening of international
commerce for New Delhi in the field of civil nuclear energy.
Both the leaders said that India and Germany
will work hard together to advance UN Security Council reforms for expansion
of both permanent and non-permanent seats.
Both India and Germany will assume non-permanent
seats in the Security Council from January 1, 2011 for a two-year period.
The two sides agreed to enhance bilateral
trade from the present level of 13 euro billion to 20 billion euros by 2012.
On his part Singh said relaxation of German
export control laws will bring in a new horizon for expanding bilateral trade.
The Prime Minister said there are no bilateral
irritants in the excellent Indo-German relations and "we believe sky
is the limit for their cooperation". Singh said he has invited Merkel
to visit India next year.
He said India will play its part in arriving
at a pragmatic and balanced solution within the framework of the UN Framework
Convention for Climate Change.
"The world must continue to build upon
the progress that has been made at the Cancun conference", Singh said.
Merkel said Indian Environment Minister Jairam
Ramesh has made an "important contribution" at the Cancun conference.
Singh flew in from Brussels on Saturday after
attending the India-European Union summit for a working visit to Germany at
the invitation of Merkel.
Germany is India's largest trading partner
in the 27-nation European Union with bilateral trade growing in the recent
years to reach 13.4 billion Euros in 2008.
Bilateral trade decreased marginally to 13.09
billion Euro but has revived and is growing by over 15 per cent and has reached
9.80 billion Euro during January-August 2010.
Ahead of the talks, Prime Minister Singh said
India's engagement with Germany is strong and multi-faceted.
Chancellor Merkel replied in the negative
when asked if there was a "trust deficit" that was preventing Germany
to lift restrictions on Technology Transfer to India.
"There is no trust deficit. We are taking
our strategic cooperation seriously. There is a positive development in military
to military cooperation," she said.
Merkel said Prime Minister Singh's visit to
Brussels for the India-EU summit has given a push for the negotiations in
finalising the ambitious bilateral trade and investment agreement.
With the agreement in the last stage of negotiations,
both India and the EU need to make compromises to ensure that the path-breaking
pact is finalised by March-April next.
Merkel said India and Germany will work to
advance reforms in the UN Security Council. "Now that India and Germany
have got non-permanent membership the two countries will have interest in
seeing that reforms advanced."
The Chancellor noted that India was getting
endorsement of several countries in its quest for a permanent membership in
the UNSC. She, especially, referred to the US President Barack Obama's support
for India's bid.
Prime Minister Singh said both India and Germany
will work hard to advance the UNSC reforms.
