German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrives in Bengaluru to visit Bosch campus and IISc nanoscience centre

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Bengaluru on Tuesday morning.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Bengaluru on Tuesday morning as part of his two-day India visit, which began in Ahmedabad with meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and foreign officials from both countries on Monday.

The German chancellor, who is visiting Bengaluru for “engagements focusing on business and technological collaboration between India and Germany”, was welcomed at Bengaluru International Airport by Minister for Large and Medium Industries M B Patil.

The Karnataka minister presented a small sandalwood replica of an elephant to welcome the German chancellor to Bengaluru.

Bengaluru has facilities of several German firms, including Siemens, Bosch, and SAP. The city also has a German consulate and a Max Mueller Bhavan for cultural exchange and collaboration.

Friedrich Merz is scheduled to visit the campus of the German technology firm Bosch at Adugodi, the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE) at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), before flying back to Germany from Bengaluru on Tuesday afternoon.

“The Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany and his delegation will visit various institutions in Bengaluru today and return from Bengaluru International Airport this evening,” Patil’s office said in a statement.

The Bengaluru police have imposed a no-drone order for the regions where the German chancellor is visiting in South and North Bengaluru.

Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh declared a “temporary no-fly zone” for drones, unmanned aerial vehicles, glider aircraft, and all small aircraft around the Bosch and IISc campuses.

The chancellor’s visit is taking place as India and Germany mark 25 years of strategic partnership and 75 years of diplomatic relations.

“Close cooperation between the economies of countries like India and Germany is important for all of humanity. The growing trade and investment ties have infused new energy into our strategic partnership. Our bilateral trade has now reached its highest level ever and crossed the $50 billion mark,” Modi said on Monday.

This is the new German Chancellor’s first India visit and also his first visit to Asia since assuming office in May last year. The visit reflects “the high priority Germany attaches to India as a key strategic partner in the Indo-Pacific”, a joint statement said.

PM Modi and the German chancellor on Monday welcomed progress in ties between the two countries “in critical and emerging technologies, including semiconductors, critical minerals, digitalisation, telecommunications, health and the bioeconomy”.