Ahead of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's visit to India, German envoy meets defence secretary

German ambassador Philipp Ackermann held talks with Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh on Thursday and discussed possible co-production of military hardware and equipment.

The meeting came days ahead of a visit to India by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

There have been speculations that India and Germany may finalise an inter-governmental agreement during Merz's visit for supply of six stealth submarines to the Indian Navy.

Merz is visiting India from January 12 to 13. He will hold wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad on Monday.

Following Ackermann's meeting with Singh, the defence ministry said the ambassador and the defence secretary discussed a range of bilateral security and defence issues including ''priority areas for co-development and co-production of defence equipment''.

German defence major ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL) are holding price negotiations with defence ministry for an Euro 5 billion deal to supply six stealth submarines to the Indian Navy.

The contract will be implemented under the framework of an inter-governmental agreement.

The deal is being billed as one of the biggest 'Make in India' projects in recent years.

In June 2021, the defence ministry cleared the mega project to procure six conventional diesel-electric submarines for the Indian Navy. The submarines are expected to have significant local content.