Global Summit focuses on strategic, economic partnership between India & Germany
The Statesman | 20 October 2025Held under the overarching theme of Democracy, Demography, Development: The India-Germany Connect, the summit brought together policymakers, global business leaders, and innovators to celebrate 25 years of strategic collaboration and chart a roadmap for the next quarter-century of cooperation. The summit showcase was the Maharashtra, which this year also celebrates 10 years of partnership with the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg.
Barun Das, MD & CEO, TV9 Network, said, “The Stuttgart edition of the News9 Global Summit was more than just an event; it served as a platform to deepen trust, strengthen partnerships, and co-create solutions in trade, technology, and sustainable development. As India emerges as the world’s fastest-growing major economy, forums like this are vital to ensuring that India’s voice also shapes global policy, commerce, and innovation. At TV9 Network, we remain committed to carrying the India story forward.”
The summit delivered a series of strategically significant outcomes, including strengthening bilateral trade ties, identifying new investment corridors, and deepening collaboration in advanced manufacturing, green energy, and digital innovation. High-level discussions also explored cooperation in climate action, industrial transition, defence manufacturing, and talent mobility, highlighting the evolving nature of Indo-German collaboration beyond traditional trade.
On 8 October, Winfried Kretschmann, minister president of Baden-Württemberg, officially inaugurated the event, highlighting 25 years of strategic partnership between Germany and India, as well as a decade of collaboration between Baden-Württemberg and Maharashtra.
While addressing the summit virtually, Devendra Fadnavis, chief minister of Maharashtra, said, “Under the visionary leadership of our honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this relationship has grown stronger, evolving from that of trade to that of true collaboration aimed at building the industries of the future. Whether it is green hydrogen, smart mobility, digital innovation or skill development, our cooperation spans across sectors vital to the global economy. Germany brings engineering excellence and precision. India offers scale, youthful energy and world-class digital infrastructure. Nowhere else could this partnership be more tangible than Maharashtra and Baden-Württemberg. Since becoming sister states in 2015, we have built a vibrant relationship rooted in opportunity, trust and shared vision.”
Rouven Kasper, CMO & board member, VfB Stuttgart, added: “Co-hosting the summit allowed us to highlight how dialogue, innovation, and sportsmanship together can foster collaboration across continents. The India-Germany Connect demonstrates that partnerships are built not just on agreements, but on shared vision and values.”
Key sessions and addresses underscored the summit’s strategic impact.
Maroš Šefčovič, European Commissioner for Trade, emphasised accelerating the India-EU Free Trade Agreement, calling it a defining step towards enhanced economic partnership and resilience in a multi-polar world.
Anurag Singh Thakur, MP and chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on coal, mines & steel, highlighted India’s global leadership in energy transition and sustainable infrastructure, showcasing how bilateral ties contribute to broader geopolitical stability.
Florian Hassler, state secretary, Baden-Württemberg, reflected on decades of state-level collaboration, citing over 350 German and 50 Indian companies engaged, 100+ academic partnerships, and vocational programs as evidence of the Indo-German industrial synergy.
Ministers and policymakers including Uday Samant, and Dr Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut contributed to dialogues on sustainable economic growth, urban innovation, and digital transformation.
The summit also highlighted emerging areas of cooperation such as AI and blockchain for industrial and governance innovation, aerospace and defence partnerships, and cross-cultural initiatives, reinforcing Germany’s importance as a global hub for engineering excellence.
The News9 Global Summit 2025, Stuttgart edition followed pre-summit curtain-raisers in Berlin, Munich, and Karlsruhe, where early discussions on technology, innovation, and trade laid the groundwork for final agreements and collaborations unveiled in Stuttgart.
