German President, Arvind Kejriwal discuss role of civil society movements in politics

New Delhi: German President Joachim Guack met Delhi`s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and both leaders are said to have discussed the role of civil society movements in politics in both countries.

During the 25-minute-long meeting, both leaders discussed the ombudsman bill, Kejriwal`s government policies and his party`s plan to contest the coming parliament elections. Guack had talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and inked of two pacts under which Germany will provide loans worth 900 million Euros to India. According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) release, India and Germany have been strategic partners since 2000 and, with the commencement of inter-governmental consultations in 2011, there has been noteworthy progress in all areas of bilateral cooperation through regular high-level exchanges at the Head of Government level as also due to cooperation in strategic areas and growing economic and commercial ties. Germany continues to be India`s largest trading partner in Europe and also work closely together in the international arena. The German President would be travelling to Myanmar from India on February 9.