Boring? As a topic in New Delhi? At least for a moment it’s all about Wacken, the open-air rock festival. While the name of the place comes from his hometown of Schleswig-Holstein, Robert Habeck smirks briefly. “Festival rock” he explained.
On Thursday, Habeck visited German company SFC Energy, which manufactures fuel cells near the Indian capital. According to CEO Peter Podesser, they can supply electricity to outdoor events with generators. Wacken, for example: “350 liters of methanol replaces 9000 liters of diesel.”
Shortly thereafter, Habeck and Podesser opened a production facility. So far, 30 people work here, soon there will be 100 of them. Expected turnover: one million euros per employee.
In six weeks the chancellor will be here again
Three days long, until Saturday evening, Habeck traveled through India: New Delhi, Mumbai, Goa. For eleven years there was no Federal Minister of Economy in India. Suddenly there was great interest in India.
Olaf Scholz (SPD) was already there this year, and the chancellor will be back in six weeks for the G-20 summit. India proudly boasts of its Presidency. “One Earth, One Family, One Future” was scrawled across a giant G-20 billboard. Several traffic light ministers have visited India, Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) was also there.
Karl Lauterbach and Steffi Lemke will be dropping by soon. Around 2000 German companies are already active in India. uptrend.
German curious gaze
Green energy, trade, skilled workers – Germany looks to India with curiosity, especially in a bid to rid itself of India’s adversary, China. The two countries share a 3,000-kilometer border, with China claiming the territory.
So Germany is interested in India. Habeck sparked a new sensation in India. But he made no secret of the fact that non-aligned India was not one of Germany’s closest friends. “Big, important and difficult” – this is how Habeck characterizes the Reich with its 1.4 billion inhabitants.
Berlin means well with India
“Difficult”? Of course, India is a democracy, despite being everywhere on the streets of New Delhi with the authoritarian tone thrown by Prime Minister Narenda Modi. There are human rights violations. So far, the Modi government has not condemned Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. “That is not true. It has to be formulated by the Indian side,” Habeck said before his meeting with Foreign Minister Subrahmanya Jaishankar.
Energy partnerships are never neutral. The economic problem has always been a power problem.
Minister of Economy Robert Habeck (Green) on Russia’s former energy dependency.
“But India is moving away from Russia,” said Habeck. Military cooperation between India and Russia used to be closer. Berlin is on good terms with India now.
War and the climate crisis are shaping European politics like Habeck’s. Before last winter, the Minister of Economy and Climate fought against a gas shortage situation. In a debate about the newspaper “Heizhammer” (“Bild”), he suffered a scratch. Habeck lost confidence, and his party even more so.
India is supposed to supply energy
Nobody’s talking about heating here right now. “Everywhere in the world is getting hotter,” said Habeck in the humid 35 degree Celsius temperature in front of the Safdarjung Mausoleum in New Delhi. One more reason for the “energy partnership” with India. The idea: India should export green hydrogen to Germany.
On the way to India, government aircraft, like all other civilian aircraft, had to make a detour, the airspace of Ukraine and Russia was taboo. So you fly over Greece. Even from a height of 12,000 meters, huge plumes of smoke from forest fires in the Athens area can be seen. As concrete as the consequences of war and the climate crisis, the tone of voice changes.
“We are finally talking about a free trade agreement with India again,” said Habeck, a representative from a party that once championed such an agreement with Canada. “We have to broaden our economic ties, not just look to China,” he said. New partners are in demand, such as India, and: more trade. It sounds as though Habeck still has to work on convincing the Greens.
Habeck’s definition of the old trading world
He’s already built argumentative bridges to this. “In the old world, trade was different from climate and environmental protection, social standards.” Today it’s the other way around. Habeck knew that a number of countries were competing for India’s support. India is more coveted than ever as skepticism about China slowly grows.
After its previous energy dependency, Berlin wants to learn from Russia. It was a “painful lesson”, says Habeck: “Energy partnerships are never neutral. The economic problem has always been a question of power.” De-risking and diversification are the keywords right now.
Germany has some catching up to do. Trade with India is only one tenth of trade with China. Free trade agreement should be negotiated by the end of the year, hope is optimistic in Brussels. India and EU elections in Spring 2024; before and after that nothing worked. A relevant criterion for democracy in India, unlike the dictatorship that Germany has long ensnared: China. Incidentally, Habeck, who has been in office for almost two years, has yet to visit China.
