India and Germany sign deals to deepen economic and security ties

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz met on Monday in western Gujarat state to push for deeper economic and security ties between the South Asian nation and Europe’s largest economy.

Modi and Merz held talks in the city of Gandhinagar, where the two countries signed various agreements to enhance cooperation in the defense sector, skill development, health and education, as both nations seek to reduce dependence on China and bolster economic ties.

After the bilateral talks, Modi noted that Germany is India’s most important trading partner in the European Union and said both leaders were seeking to expand those ties.

He said the two countries are pursuing new projects in areas such as climate action, energy and mining of rare earth elements, and have also agreed on a road map to boost cooperation between their defense industries for joint development and production.

“We want to elevate the relations between India and Germany to an even higher level,” Modi said.

Germany has not traditionally had close defense ties with India, but the two sides have been trying to boost cooperation in the sector. Germany’s Thyssenkrupp is expected to partner with Indian firms to build six advanced conventional submarines in India, part of New Delhi’s ongoing efforts to modernize its naval capabilities.

Merz said India and Germany share “tremendous economic potential,” and the two countries are working together to strengthen ties in the field of security policy and defense cooperation.

“India is a desired partner, a partner of choice for Germany,” Merz said, according to a live official translation. He added that negotiations on a free trade agreement between India and the EU need to be concluded to fully realize the potential of economic ties between the two countries.

The two sides also signed an agreement that makes it easier for Indians to work in Germany's health care sector.

Merz’s visit to India — also his first to an Asian country since he took office last year — comes ahead of a planned India-EU summit later this month, where leaders hope to make progress on a long-pending free trade agreement. India hopes to deepen economic engagement with Europe in the face of U.S. tariff rates of 50%.

During his visit, Merz toured the Sabarmati Ashram, once home to independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, and attended the International Kite Festival at the Sabarmati riverfront. Modi and Merz flew kites during the event.

Merz, who is accompanied by a large business delegation, is later scheduled to travel to southern Bengaluru city to meet Indian and German business and technology leaders.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, left, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi fly a kite during the inauguration of International kite festival in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ride together in a vehicle during the inauguration of International kite festival in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, left, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves as they arrive for the inauguration of the International Kite Festival in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, left, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi prepare to fly a kiteduring the inauguration of International kite festival in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz fly kites during the inauguration of International kite festival in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

President Donald Trump said U.S. forces on Friday “obliterated” targets on Iran’s Kharg Island, which is home to the primary terminal that handles the country’s oil exports. The speaker of the Iranian Parliament had warned that such strikes would provoke a new level of retaliation.

Meanwhile, an American official said 2,500 more Marines and an amphibious assault ship are being sent to the Middle East nearly two weeks into the war with the Islamic Republic.

Iran has continued to launch widespread missile and drone attacks on Israel and neighboring Gulf states, and has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes, even as U.S. and Israeli warplanes pummel military and other targets across Iran.

The moves appear to signal the two-week-old war is not nearing an end.

Here is the latest:

An airstrike hit a house in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, early Saturday, killing at least one person, according to a security official and another affiliated with the Iranian-backed armed groups in the country.

The strike in Baghdad’s Karrada district also wounded two people, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to the press.

In a statement, the Iraqi military condemned the strike as “a blatant violation of all humanitarian values and a disregard for international conventions.”

The strike happened before a missile attack hit the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad.

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By Qassim Abdul-Zahra

Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency reported at least 15 explosions with thick smoke rising over Kharg Island, earlier hit by U.S. strikes.

It said the strikes targeted an air defense facility, a naval base, the airport control tower, and an offshore oil company’s helicopter hangar, adding no oil infrastructure was damaged in the attack.

Iran’s joint military command reiterated its threat to attack U.S.-linked oil and energy facilities in the region if the Islamic Republic’s oil infrastructure were hit.

Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters made the threat early Saturday, according to Iran’s state-run television.

He warned that Iran will target “all oil, economic, and energy infrastructures belonging to oil companies across the region that have American shares or cooperate with America” if energy and economic infrastructure in Iran is attacked.

There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad after a strike hit it’s compound in the Iraqi capital.

On Friday, the embassy renewed its Level 4 security alert for Iraq, warning that Iran and Iran-aligned militia groups have previously carried out attacks against U.S. citizens, interests and infrastructure, and “may continue to target them.”

The sprawling embassy complex, one of the largest U.S. diplomatic facilities in the world, has been repeatedly targeted by rockets and drones in the past by Iran-aligned militias.

The groups have recently stepped up attacks on bases hosting U.S. and coalition troops.

A drone strike in northern Iraq on Thursday killed a French soldier and wounded several others stationed there as part of an international coalition.

A missile struck a helipad inside the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, two security officials said.

The projectile landed within the embassy’s boundaries after the Green Zone, the heavily fortified district in central Baghdad that houses Iraqi government institutions and foreign embassies, added the security officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they are not authorized to speak with the press.

Video obtained by The Associated Press showed smoke billowing from inside the compound.

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By Qassim Abdul-Zahra

Smoke rises from the U.S. embassy building in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Jabar)

Smoke rises from the U.S. embassy building in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Jabar)

Family members ride in a damaged car, as they flee the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit an apartment building in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

A woman holds up a poster of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei during the annual anti-Israeli Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, rally in support of Palestinians in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Members of the Al-Najar family break their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza City Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Firefighters try to extinguish flames at the site of a direct hit by an Iranian missile strike in Holon, central Israel, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Rescue workers search for survivors in the rubble after a strike in southern Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Sajjad Safari)