Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: India and Germany have signed a bilateral pact to deepen cooperation in postal, express and logistics services with a strong focus on cross-border e-commerce and time-definite international deliveries, an official statement said last week, reports PTI.
The collaboration is expected to contribute to higher export volumes, improved service quality and increased participation of Indian businesses in global value chains by enhancing access to international markets and strengthening India’s logistics ecosystem, it added.
“India and Germany have taken a significant step towards strengthening bilateral cooperation in the postal, express and logistics sector with the signing and exchange of two key instruments on January 12 in Ahmedabad, during the visit of…Friedrich Merz, Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, to India,” the Ministry of Communications said in the statement.
Under the pact, India and Germany are expected to launch joint premium international express products, including a time-definite international express service that will leverage the extensive last-mile reach of India Post and the global express and logistics network of the Deutsche Post–DHL Group, which is likely to significantly improve transit times, reliability and end-to-end visibility for international shipments originating from India.
“The collaboration envisages a structured partnership covering postal, express and logistics services, with a strong focus on cross-border e-commerce and time-definite international deliveries. It provides a framework for developing joint products and services, strengthening network connectivity and last-mile cooperation, and exploring bilateral rate arrangements for letters and parcels,” the statement said.
The partnership also emphasises the exchange of best practices in digitalisation, operational efficiency, sustainability and green logistics.
Germany has announced a visa-free transit facility for Indian passport holders travelling through its airports, a move expected to significantly ease international travel for Indian nationals and strengthen people-to-people ties between the two countries.
The decision was announced in the India-Germany joint statement issued on Monday following German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s official visit to India from January 12–13. This was Merz’s first visit to India and his first visit to Asia as Federal Chancellor.
In simple terms, the visa-free transit facility means that Indian travellers passing through German airports en route to another country will no longer need to apply for a separate transit visa, making journeys smoother, quicker and less paperwork-intensive.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked Chancellor Merz for the visa-free transit facility announcement.
The step “will not only facilitate and ease travel of Indian nationals, but will further intensify people-to-people links,” the joint statement noted. Both leaders reiterated that “strong people-to-people ties constitute a vital pillar of the Strategic Partnership.”
The two sides welcomed the growing exchange of students, researchers, skilled professionals, artists and tourists, and recognised the “valuable contribution of the Indian community to Germany’s economy, innovation and cultural life.” They also stressed the need to expand cooperation in education, research, vocational training, culture and youth exchanges to deepen mutual understanding.
Education and skills featured prominently in the talks. The leaders noted the rising number of Indian students in Germany, the expansion of joint and dual degree programmes, and closer collaboration between higher education institutions.
They welcomed initiatives aimed at supporting Indian students’ and graduates’ integration into the German job market, as well as institutional linkages between Indian Institutes of Technology and German technical universities. Both sides agreed to create an Indo-German Comprehensive Roadmap on Higher Education, and PM Modi invited leading German universities to open campuses in India under the New Education Policy.