Bilateral relations between the Republic of India and Germany have been traditionally strong due to commercial, cultural and technological co-operation.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, several German scholars made significant contributions to the exploration of Indian culture and the study of Sanskrit, working on the foundations laid by people like Heinrich Roth[1] and Johann Ernst Hanxleden.

Other important 19th century German Indologists where Albrecht Weber, Hermann Oldenberg, Friedrich Schlegel and Georg Bühler.

Pro-independence activists within the colonial armies sought German assistance in procuring India's freedom, resulting in the Hindu–German Conspiracy during World War I.

The Indische Legion was formed to serve as a liberation force for India and was principally made up of Indian PoWs and expatriates in Europe.

The book Mein Kampf by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler has remained popular in India even in the 21st century.

[13] India and Germany both seek to become permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and have joined with Japan and Brazil to coordinate their efforts via the G4 collective.

[14] At the UN General Assembly summit in New York in September 2015, the P5 members of the UNSC dismissed any notion of dilution of their power at the UN's high-table and severely undermined efforts by G4 nations to gain access to the exclusive club.

While India maintains that it will continue to demand a permanent seat with veto powers within a reformed UNSC with privileges identical to the P5 nations, it has signalled that strengthening of bilateral economic and political ties with neighbouring countries is the immediate priority.

[17][18][19][20][21] India and Germany maintain an ongoing dialogue in the areas of commercial maritime security and cooperation in the field of anti-terrorism.

[23] Unlike UK and France, Germany not only does not have any sovereign territories in the Indo-Pacific region but is also incapable of power projection.

Ambuj Sharma, additional secretary at the Ministry of Heavy Industry, said: "ARAI has been asked to submit its report within a week.

The migration and mobility agreement was signed to make it easier for Indians to enter Germany to work, study or begin training in the country.

[64] This can be seen as the pretext for a case from 2015 in which Professor Annette Beck-Sickinger, the head of the biochemistry department at Leipzig University, caused a furore in India by rejecting an internship application from an Indian student as a retaliation against India's 'culture of rape' and alluding to the existence of a wider Europe-wide boycott of Indian male students.

[65][66][67][68] The racial profiling, gender discrimination and xenophobic undertones of the incident placed the spotlight on prevalent institutional bias, increasing intolerance to foreigners and level of respect for the human rights of persons of color in Germany.

[69][70][71][72] Indians have been deeply critical of the German institutional approach to the 2015 Leipzig University internship affair and the absence of sanctions against professor Annette Beck-Sickinger.

The Leipzig University internship controversy, occurred just weeks before the April 2015 official visit to Germany by Indian Prime-Minister Narendra Modi at the invitation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

[75]In 2008, German Chancellor Angela Merkel made an official visit to India that led to the signing of several agreements expanding bilateral co-operation in commerce, science, technology and defence.

[83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91] The visit, announced by the German embassy in India as a turning point in Indo-German relations,[92] On 5 October 2015, Angela Merkel visited Mahatma Gandhi's memorial at Raj Ghat and was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Presidential Palace prior to the Third Indo-German Inter-Governmental Consultations [93][94][95][96][97] which led to the signing of 18 Memorandums of Understanding (MoU).

[98] Germany returned a 10th-century relic, a statue of the Hindu goddess Durga in her Mahishasuramardini avatar, which had been stolen from India.

84% of Bosch India revenues come from its automotive business, with the remaining 16% split between its non-automotive businesses that include packaging, energy and building solutions, power tools and consumer retail Bosch India is listed on the Indian stock exchanges and has a market capitalization of over $12 billion.

[114][115][116][117][118][119] Germany's State broadcaster Deutsche Welle eloquently captured the prevailing mood regarding the visit with its editorial titled:"A first step in the right direction – no more, no less".

In March 2024, India summoned a German envoy to protest against his government's call on the standards relating to independence of judiciary and basic democratic principles to be applied in the arrest of Indian opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal.