German President Horst Koehler to visit India Feb 1-7

German President Horst Koehler will arrive here on February 1 on a week-long state visit to India during which the two countries will hold talks on ways of enhancing their bilateral relations.

Mr Koehler will be accompanied by his wife and a high-level delegation, including ministers, senior officials, businessmen and media.

During the visit, Mr Koehler will have meetings with President Pratibha Patil and Vice-President M Hamid Ansari and hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj and ruling United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi will call on him. Ms Patil will host a banquet in his honour.

Mr Koehler will visit Pune and Mumbai from February 4-6 when he will meet Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan and Chief Minister Ashok Chavan. He is also due to meet Reserve Bank of India Governor D Subbarao.

An official press release said the German President would also meet members of the Indian and German business community, media and opinion makers during his stay in India.

"India and Germany have traditionally enjoyed warm and friendly relations. Today, Indo-German relations which flow out of a commitment to shared values of democracy, pluralism, diversity and the rule of law are broad-based and diverse. The strategic partnership forged between the two countries in 2001 has further strengthened the ties," the release said.

Bilateral relations between India and Germany are also marked by rapidly growing economic and trade ties. Germany is India's biggest trade partner in the European Union. It is also India's seventh largest investor cumulatively and India's second largest partner for technology collaborations.

According to the release, India and Germany cooperate well in various multi-lateral fora and have close consultations and engagements through institutionalised dialogue mechanisms in areas such as energy, strategic cooperation, urban infrastructure, health and vocational education.

NNN