German President begins visit after skipping Sochi Olympics

The visit is deemed important from the point of view of India and Germany’s growing involvement on the world stage

German President Joachim Gauck obliges teachers and students with photographs as he leaves aftera special lecture at Jawaharlal Nehru Universityin New Delhi on Thursday.— Photo: PTI

As did Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who went out of his way to squeeze in a visit to India despite a packed calendar, German President Joachim Gauck also decided to visit New Delhi after cancelling his trip to Russia for the Sochi Winter Olympics.

The visit is deemed important from the point of view of India and Germany’s growing involvement on the world stage, a partnership that goes beyond change of governments in either country, said sources in the government.

An agenda common to both Mr. Abe and Mr. Gauck was the convergence with India on supporting each other for permanent seats in an expanded United Nations Security Council. An aide close to the Japanese Prime Minister had described the bid by G-4 nations (Brazil, Germany, India and Japan) to get seats on the global high table as tough but appeared optimistic about a breakthrough by next year if the countries stayed together.

Earlier, he visited the Rajghat and as a non-violent campaigner himself for unification of Germany, wrote in the commemorative book that Mahatma Gandhi’s “path of nonviolent resistance against injustice was, is and will in the future motivate people in the entire world and give them inspiration and hope.”