PM Modi welcomes Angela Merkel, tweets 'namaste Chancellor'

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi tonight welcomed German Chancellor Angela Merkel as she arrived here on a three-day visit, saying he looked forward to strengthening the bilateral ties.

"Namaste Chancellor Merkel! Warm welcome to you & the delegation. I look forward to fruitful discussions & strengthening India-Germany ties," Modi tweeted as soon as Merkel landed at the Delhi Airport.

The two leaders will hold wide-ranging talks tomorrow to significantly scale up bilateral relations in an array of key sectors with special focus on boosting trade, security and defence ties.

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The talks are likely to focus on deepening bilateral engagement in defence, security, education, renewable energy, high technology, skill development, science and technology, railways, water and waste management, urban development and agriculture. India and Germany are strategic partners since 2001.

Merkel's three-day visit here comes around six months after Modi's visit to Germany and there have been expectations of "path-breaking results" from the summit-level Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) between the two leaders who have been pushing for unlocking the potential and taking the ties to higher trajectory.