Germany fully backs submarine negotiations with India, wants to offer military cooperation alternatives to New Delhi: German envoy

The German government is fully backing negotiations with the Indian Navy for its Project 75 India tender to build six new conventional submarines in which German firm Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems is partnering with Indian Mazgaon Dockyards Limited as one of the two competing industry teams, Germany’s Ambassador to India Philipp Ackermann said.

In an interview over email, the German envoy said that New Delhi was at the forefront of Berlin’s business strategy in Asia where it was strongly diversifying its business relations due to the “increasingly challenging behaviour of India’s big neighbour in the North East” and other reasons.

“I can state that Germany is committed to team up with an Indian dockyard to build high-tech submarines in India and that my government is wholeheartedly supporting the ongoing negotiations. The process is still ongoing and the decision is for India to take. What we can say though it that this project already is accelerating our defence partnership and therefore works as a lighthouse for future cooperation,” he said.

Project 75 India is an Indian Navy project where it wants to build six bigger conventional submarines with Air Independent Propulsion technology German firm Thyssenkrupp and Spanish firm Navantia are partnering with MDL and Larsen and Toubro respectively for this project expected to be worth over six billion euros.

The German ambassador did not comment upon the recent issue where the German foreign office gave a statement about the arrest of the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, which was strongly objected to by India as interference in its internal affairs.

Asked why India can count on Germany as its strategic partner, Ackerman said: “Because Germany’s shift towards India and the Indo-Pacific is manifesting itself in very concrete actions: military visits and joint exercises, potential co-production of advanced military hardware, more collaboration in the area of cyber and strengthening our interoperability.”

He said that Germany would be sending its fighters including the Eurofighter Typhoons and transport aircraft – A400M – to India and spearhead a European team together with France and Spain for an exercise near Coimbatore.

“We team up with the Indian Air Force to participate in the first phase of Tarang Shakti. It is the first time that Germany is sending his Air Force to India to participate in such a high scale exercise.. In October, two German ships, one frigate and one support ship, will come to Goa to show their presence and train together with our close partners and friends from the Indian Navy,” he said while listing details of the engagement with the Indian military in near future.

The German envoy to India said that high-ranking visits from Germany are expected this summer and autumn to witness and politically support this joint exercise. “And I am very optimistic that from this year onwards, we will have joint exercises on a regular, annual,” the German Ambassador said.

Talking about the changed German foreign policy and attitude towards India, Ackerman said that there is an even bigger political will in Berlin to boost defence ties with India and build a long-term and substantial strategic partnership.

“That is why we push for a stronger German and European cooperation with partners in the Indo-Pacific. The German government did open its defence export policy and our collaboration with India in that regard is one of the most important examples of this shift. It is in our interest that India diversifies its military cooperation and together with our American and European partners, we want to offer alternatives to the Indian government,” he said.

On the role of India in its Indo-Pacific strategy for 2020, the German Ambassador said that Germany as a trading nation with strong international links, has a great interest in free shipping routes and in the preservation of peace and stability in the region.

“As a result of Russia’s war of aggression and the increasingly challenging behaviour of India’s big neighbour in the North East, Germany is strongly diversifying its trade relations in Asia. India is on the forefront of this business strategy. That is also why we are seeing such a strong interest of German companies, big ones as well as many start-ups, to invest in India! That is one reason why the 18th Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business in October this year will happen in New Delhi,” he said.

On Project 75 India, Ackerman said that the recent visit of Indian Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane in Berlin shows the continuation of high-level exchanges between our two democracies in order to strengthen defence cooperation.

“Germany is ready to supply aircraft, torpedoes and power packs for tanks to India – with substantial localization of production in India. Germany also did speed up its processes for export licenses: We are delivering more and faster because India is our prime security partner in the region. Together, we have invested already a lot in the freedom of this region and we are committed to strengthen that much more, he said.

The German firm Thyssenkrupp’s Chief Executive Officer Oliver Burkhard said that TKMS was the only firm with a proven AIP system and “We just underlined the technical possibilities together with a delegation from the Indian and German Navies.”

Asked about the planned work share between Indian MDL and TKMS for the P-75 India which has some stringent requirements for the transfer of technology and increased work share of Indian entities, Burkhard said that in the presence of the German Defence Minister, Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems and MDL have already signed a memorandum of understanding.

“As part of the letter of intent, we stipulated that, if awarded the contract, we would be responsible for the design of the submarines as well as playing an advisory role. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders would be responsible for the construction and delivery of the submarines,” he said.

“I can assure you both companies have many years of experience, knowledge and expertise and we are engaging our key sub-suppliers in the process of indigenisation, including for example our own subsidiaries ‘kta’ and ATLAS ELEKTRONIK. The plan presented by MDL to the government includes already a percentage of indigenisation for the first boat which is significantly higher than the stipulated requirement,” he said.