“If there are Indians without proper documents,” Kumar explained, “I think our foreign minister has already mentioned that once the nationality has been established … we will take these people back.”
And that is music to the ears of European politicians who want to pursue controlled migration with embassy-issued visas, while meeting the demand for labor in an aging continent.
According to Sita Sharma, an independent consultant working as a senior advisor to the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship of the Government of India, currently over 600 million people in the country are between the ages of 18 and 35. Comparatively, the median age in Germany is 45, with about 14 million in that age group.
The agreement between Berlin and New Delhi allows “qualified young Indians to gain professional experience, study, start vocational training, or work in Germany,” Sharma noted, mentioning the agreement also theoretically proposes “bilateral placement agreements between the German Federal Employment Agency and Indian state or national level parties, particularly in healthcare, hospitality, mechanics, and electrical work.” However, she highlighted Germany’s low ambition, with only an “exchange of 3,000 workers annually” so far.
But now, as work to finalize the FTA intensifies, both Brussels and New Delhi are in a mood to make concessions.
It appears India may finally have the stomach to reduce tariffs — as high as 100 percent or more on cars, wine and whiskey — while some in Europe have been sympathetic regarding India’s constraints around opening its agriculture sector to European imports.
