Blue Cards and green energy: Why so many German ministers are visiting India

"The focus has clearly shifted in favour of India," was the summary of Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) as he ended a three-day trip to the developing nation this week.

In many ways, this was an understatement. Habeck's trip to the subcontinent - with the aim of sealing new green energy deals - marked the the first time a German economics minister has visited the country in eleven years.

And Habeck isn't the only high-profile German politician to have made the journey recently. 

Just a few days before the Green politician's visit to India, Labour Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) had flown out to the country with the aim of convincing young medical professionals to come and work in Germany.

In the preceding months, India had also welcomed Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Finance Minister Christian Lindner, Development Minister Svenja Schulze and Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and Chancellor Olaf Scholz for state visits.

The number of cabinet ministers making the journey marks a significant shift in the focus of the German government away from China and towards India. 

So why is the German government so keen to romance the world's most populous nation - and could this new relationship offer advantages for young migrants looking to start a new life in Germany?

Plea for STEM workers

It's no secret that Germany is struggling to fill a widening skills gap in its economy at present - and India's pool of highly qualified software engineers and IT workers is precisely what the country is looking for.

Though the government is desperate to make progress with digitalisation, this shortage of home-grown workers has been standing in the way. Just as swathes of qualified engineers and technical specialists move into retirement, the interest in STEM subjects in universities is sinking dramatically year on year. In fact, according a 2022 report by the German Economic Institute (IW), Germany was missing around 320,000 STEM workers last year. 

Over the past ten years, however, a growing number of skilled migrants from India have been helping to plug this gap. This period has seen the number of Indian passport holders working in computer science or engineering in Germany shoot up by more than 550 percent from 3,800 to 25,000. Overall, the number of Indians moving to the country has risen from around 60,000 in 2012 to 210,000 in 2022.

Indians also make up the largest proportion of Blue Card recipients of any other nation, with around 22.5 percent of Blue Cards being handed out to Indians between 2012 and 2017.

READ ALSO: 8 things to know about Germany's new skilled worker immigration law

Call for qualified nurses

When Labour Minister Hubertus Heil visited the country, however, it wasn't just to tap into the talent in India's thriving tech sector. While there, the SPD politician met with a number of qualified nurses at a relocation event held at the Goethe Institute in Thiruvananthapuram in southern India.

"I am thrilled that so many young people want to come to Germany as nurses," he said at the time. "And they have a realistic image of Germany."

The backdrop, of course, is that the healthcare sector is another German industry that is struggling with demographic change in the country. The aging population means that more and more people require care. At the same time, fewer doctors and nurses remain in the healthcare system to care for them.

A recent study from the IW's Competence Center for Securing Skilled Labour (KOFA) found that there were 163,000 positions in nursing, teaching and childcare that couldn't be filled by workers in 2022. At the same time, a survey by financial advisory firm MLP revealed that 52 percent of doctors in Germany report a shortage staff - and as many as 76 percent in less developed regions such as the former East. 

However, Heil was reticent about relaxing German language requirements for nurses, pointing out that a B2 level is necessary for performing the job well and integrating into German society.

READ ALSO:

• REVEALED: The German industries most desperate for skilled workers
• German labour minister calls for more skilled nurses from India

Migration deal 

Germany's desire to become an attractive destination for skilled migrants from India was cemented in an agreement signed by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on her trip to the country back in December.

The deal was designed to facilitate what the government described as "fair mobility for students and trainees, cultural professionals, journalists, academics and skilled workers" who want to migrate between India and Germany while also fighting against illegal migration. It was the first specific migration agreement signed between a non-EU country and Germany and has since then been used as a template for thrashing out other migration deals with third countries like Brazil as well.

"We are setting the course for qualified young Indians to gain professional and practical experience in Germany, to study here, start vocational training, or work in their profession," Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said at the time. "This is another important step in attracting skilled workers that we urgently need in the German labour market."

The forthcoming Skilled Worker Immigration Act is also designed to pull in this group of qualified workers and international students - with many likely to come from India. Under the new law, there will be simpler routes for skilled workers to migrate to Germany - including a new points-based jobseeker visa - lower salary requirements for Blue Card holders, attractive perks for international students and easier family reunification rules, among other things.

This should serve to accelerate the trend of year-on-year increases in Indian migrants coming to Germany. 

READ ALSO: Indians in Germany: Who are they and where do they live?

Economy and energy 

The interest in India goes beyond the question of worker shortages and migration, however.

Once dismissed as a developing nation, Germany has now set its sights firmly on India as it seeks to limit its dependence on China.

With around 1.4 billion residents, the country is not only the most populous in the world, but also has a rapidly developing economy that represents an attractive market for German companies as well as a source of skilled labour.

In addition, India has been funnelling its resources heavily into renewable energy and is seen by Germany as an important supplier of green hydrogen. With some technological advancement, it is hoped that India can also assist Germany in building up a corresponding industry, with solar parks and electrolysers to produce the hydrogen.

So far, however, there have been frictions over India's perceived commitment to fighting climate change. The country has so far only pledged to becoming climate neutral by 2070 - 25 years after Germany wants to phase out emissions - and has also taken issue with the EU's strict definition of green hydrogen.

Another political difficulty in the burgeoning relationship between the two nations is the Indian administration's closeness to Russia and Vladimir Putin.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has so far refused to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine and has opted out of sanctions imposed on the post-Soviet nation.

In fact, the country has even increased its business dealings with Russia in the wake of the war, largely in order to benefit from cheap fossil fuels. There are also suspicions that India may be selling sanctioned Russian goods onto third-party nations - an act that would breach the West's existing sanctions.