Manmohan Singh talks to Der Spiegel’s South Asia Bureau Chief Padma Rao Sundarji about German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to India, nuclear cooperation with the US and Indo-German academic exchange.

SPIEGEL: Dr Singh, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is in New Delhi this week. Her entourage, which includes some of Germany’s top executives, scientists and politicians, fills two Airbus planes. The scale of the visit is a bit surprising considering that Germany and India have no historical links. Why are the two countries suddenly so important for each other?

Singh: Who says we are not historically linked? Our first trade contacts date back to 1505, when ships financed by the Fugger family from Augsburg landed in Goa. Your great poet Goethe was enormously inspired by Sanskrit texts.

SPIEGEL: But that doesn’t help explain why Chancellor Merkel is undertaking her longest overseas trip to date. Where precisely do the two countries’ mutual interests lie?

Singh: It is no secret that trade and investment have been growing rapidly. And then there has always been close scientific and technological cooperation between our two countries. Most importantly, however, Germany and India are both democracies and believe in human rights. This makes the relations far easier and smoother than with many other countries. We also cooperate with Germany on global issues through the European Union and the G-8 as well as other international forums. We have also, through the G-4 framework, presented our joint candidature for permanent membership in the UN Security Council. Seldom do two leading countries enjoy such a harmonious relationship.

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