German Chancellor interacts with BITS Pilani students during his Goa leg of India visit

In his last leg of his three-day India visit, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday visited BITS Pilani in Goa, where he interacted with the students.

He also walked through the student-led innovations being put on display specially for his visit. The German Chancellor discussed with the students about the innovative solutions that they came came up with.

Later during his interaction with the students in a formal setup, he took questions from the student fraternity in diverse topics.

He told the students that India is growing in fast renewable energy production and there are opportunities where both the countries can work together.

“I see that India is now growing fast when it comes to renewables. If you look at the energy production, just a small part, but it is growing. This is, I think, a good message, and we will be as helpful as we can to grow together,” said the Chancellor, responding particularly to a student when he was asked green energy adoption.

The Chancellor apprised the gathering that Germany is committed to produce 80 per cent of its electricity capacity by 2030 through renewables.

“And we are very much running into this direction. It’s, at this time, approximately 60 per cent. So it’s highly likely that we will reach this goal,” the Chancellor said.

He said that his country is exchanging its experience and technologies with India.

At COP26 held in 2021, India committed to an ambitious five-part “Panchamrit” pledge. They included reaching 500 GW of non-fossil electricity capacity, generating half of all energy requirements from renewables, and reducing emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2030.

India as a whole also aims to reduce the emissions intensity of GDP by 45 per cent. Finally, India commits to net-zero emissions by 2070. India meets a sizable portion of its energy needs through fossil fuels, and various renewable energy sources, are seen as an avenue to reduce the dependence on conventional sources of power.

Further, he said 50,000 of Indians in Germany are students. Compared to 2022, that’s an increase of 50 per cent, he said.

“So there is more to come,” he added. “A lot of Indians are now living in Germany. And I was really impressed to learn that India now represents the largest group of foreign students at German universities.”

During the interaction, the Chancellor was asked whether India is just another economic partner or does this visit signify a meaningful shift towards deeper strategic ties aimed at securing peace, harmony, and stability in the Indo Pacific region. To this question, he reaffirmed the need to follow the international rule of law of the sea.

He stressed that rules coming out any universal agreements are needed to be followed by everyone.

“It should be not the rule of the most powerful, it should be the rule that we developed together, which is the case with the United Nations Code of the Law,” the Chancellor said.

“One of the reasons why now two ships of the German Navy are today here in this city, and we will have a chance to look at them and to discuss with them about what they experienced when they acted together with the Indian Navy and tried to secure the development in the region,” he said.

This is German Chancellor’s third visit to India since he took the charge in 2021.

At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, is on an official visit to India from October 24-26. Chancellor Scholz has visited India twice last year, for a bilateral State Visit in February 2023 and to attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit in September 2023.

On Friday, Prime Minister Modi and Chancellor Scholz co-chaired the 7th Intergovernmental Consultations. Chancellor Scholz is accompanied by senior Ministers in his cabinet.

Both the leaders held bilateral talks on Friday in the national capital. They also addressed the 18th Asia Pacific Conference of German Business (APK 2024).

Chancellor Scholz is now in Goa, where the German naval frigate “Baden-Wuerttemberg” and combat support ship “Frankfurt am Main” made a scheduled port call as part of Germany’s Indo-Pacific deployment.

India and Germany have a strategic partnership since 2000. Over the years, this partnership has deepened and diversified across various sectors. The two countries are celebrating 50 years of Science and Technology collaboration this year.