Manmohan Singh leaves for Germany with five cabinet ministers

New Delhi  :  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left Wednesday on a three-day official visit to Berlin, with five cabinet ministers in his delegation, where he will co-chair inter-governmental consultations to push bilateral ties and witness the signing of a series of agreements on education, science and technology and renewable energy.

Manmohan Singh, who is visiting Germany at the invitation of Chancellor Angela Merkel, will co-chair with her the second meeting of inter-governmental consultations launched in 2011 to discuss all possible areas of cooperation.

The prime minister’s high-level delegation includes five cabinet ministers: Salman Khurshid (external affairs), Anand Sharma (commerce), Farooq Abdullah (renewable energy), M.M. Pallam Raju (human resource development) and S. Jaipal Reddy (science and technology).

Earlier, the prime minister said he will seek Germany’s support for early conclusion of a balanced trade and investment with the European Union (EU).

“I will seek Chancellor Merkel’s support for an early conclusion of an India-EU broad-based trade and investment agreement,” the prime minister said in his departure statement here ahead of the three-day visit to Berlin.

“I will also propose that Europe keeps its doors open to Indian investors and professionals,” he added.