“If Germany can't count on old friends, perhaps it's time to make new ones”

The visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Berlin had special significance as it came just days after a difficult G7 summit had exposed deep rifts between Germany’s government and the current US administration, particularly over climate change, Joe Miller writes for the BBC. Given the diplomatic rows over US President Donald Trump’s stance towards his country’s European partners and the looming Brexit negotiations, “Germany's business community had already been slowly coming to the conclusion that it may - regrettably - be time to seek new friends”, particularly in India and China, Miller writes. But the possible “pivot to Asia” in “Europe’s economic powerhouse” was also due to a dire need by the German economy for skilled labour from India and other countries, particularly in the field of digital innovation.

Read the article in English here.