Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed German Chancellor Angela Merkel to India on Sunday night by tweeting 'namaste'.


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The PM posted on the micro-blogging site Twitter: “Namaste Chancellor Merkel. Warm welcome to you and the delegation. I look forward to fruitful discussions and strengthening India-Germany ties.”





Merkel arrived in the national capital tonight and was welcomed at the airport by Union Minister Jayant Sinha among others.



PM Modi and the German Chancellor will hold wide-ranging talks here tomorrow to significantly scale up bilateral relations in an array of key sectors with special focus on boosting trade, security and defence ties.


The talks are likely to focus on deepening bilateral engagement in defence, security, education, renewable energy, high technology, skill development, science and technology, railways, water and waste management, urban development and agriculture. India and Germany are strategic partners since 2001, as per PTI.


Merkel's three-day visit here comes around six months after Modi's visit to Germany and there have been expectations of "path-breaking results" from the summit-level Inter- Governmental Consultations (IGC) between the two leaders who have been pushing for unlocking the potential and taking the ties to higher trajectory.


Modi and Merkel, accompanied by a large delegation of several Cabinet Ministers and top officials besides CEOs of several top German companies, are expected to delve deep on removing bottlenecks for expanding bilateral trade and investment.


The German Chancellor is expected to convey problems faced by German industries in proceeding with planned investments. Both the leaders are also likely to exchange views on regional and global issues of common concern such as climate change.


(With PTI inputs)