HOW ANGELA Merkel, as German environment minister, developed a relationship with then Indian environment minister Kamal Nath in 1995; Nath’s advice on how to build consensus at the Berlin climate conference; how Chancellor Merkel better understood the skepticism of developing countries about rich nations since Dr Manmohan Singh; and how she raised the issue of attacks on minorities by Hindu nationalists alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who strongly denied it – all this is part of Merkel’s much-anticipated autobiography, “Freedom: Memoirs 1954 – 2021”, published by Pan Macmillan.
In the book Merkel recalls, as the country’s environment minister who was hosted at the UNFCC in Berlin in 1995, “I quickly developed a friendship with India’s environment minister Kamal Nath. India played a very constructive role in the conference. Time passed. Interviews are conducted from early morning until late at night. Cornelia Quennet-Thielen and all my colleagues worked to the point of exhaustion. The representatives of developing and developing countries were always at odds. Independent organizations have added fuel to the fire.”
“When there is still no result on the morning of April 7, I am afraid that all efforts were in vain. Time was passing through my fingers… I shared my grief with Kamal Nath. The first thing he told me was that he had to leave that night. There was nothing I could do to change his mind. Urgent domestic affairs called to him. I was shocked. But then he gave me some advice. He told me to divide the group of “Friends” – representatives of developed countries on one side and representatives of developing countries on the other. The groups worked in separate rooms during the negotiations, I moved between the groups as a mediator. ‘I think both teams trust you’, he said. Kamal Nath’s advice was convincing. It was about finding the eye of the needle through which everything could be pulled. My frustration was gone and I started working. Kamal Nath had given me back the curtain.”
Later, the mandate to negotiate the protocol of the Framework Convention on Climate Change – the Berlin mandate – was adopted, which contained both a commitment to binding greenhouse gas reduction goals and the possibility of joint implementation. It paved the way for the landmark Kyoto Protocol in 1997 – an international agreement that set legally binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
As the Chancellor, Merkel wrote, “I have always been convinced that the economic success of China and India will significantly change the world’s power relations in its direction.” That is why I wanted to develop closer relations with both countries. In 2010, I proposed to President Hu (Jintao) and Prime Minister (Manmohan) Singh that we hold regular consultations between the two governments. They both agreed. The first consultation between the German and Indian governments took place in early June 2011 in New Delhi… India was the most populous democracy in the world. The first two talks between the German and Indian governments in 2011 and 2013 were led from the Indian side by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. I had met Singh in April 2006 when we officially opened the Hannover Messe together, where India was a partner country.”
“His (Manmohan Singh) main objective was to improve the living standards of two-thirds of India’s 1.2 billion people living in rural areas. This was 800 million people, 10 times the population of Germany. In my discussions with him, I gained a better understanding of the skepticism of the developing countries about us, the rich countries. In his opinion, we expected them to be very interested in our problems, but we were not ready to show them the same respect. I saw his point, and began to read more about the challenges that developing countries face. Singh told me about the cultural diversity of his country, a small continent with a history of more than five thousand years,” he said, adding that “India is comparable to the European Union as a whole rather than any of its member states”.
Recalling his meetings with Prime Minister Modi, he wrote, “In May 2014, Singh was succeeded by Narendra Modi. He belonged to the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata party and preferred to speak Hindi, the official language of India, and English. We had met for the first time in April 2015, during the opening of the Hannover Messe, where India was the second partner country. Under the slogan ‘Make in India’, 400 companies exhibited their products. At the opening ceremony, Modi promoted India as an investment destination, spoke English as an exception, and wowed everyone there with a cultural program that contained real elements. I held my breath as a devious-looking Asiatic lion emerged from the back wall, roared loudly, swam below the stage toward the audience, and through the center of the Hanover Congress Center. Modi loved visuals. He told me about the election campaigns where he spoke in a studio and his image was made as a hologram in more than 50 different places, where thousands of people listened to him in each place. I asked how the audience responded to that kind of visual presence. He reported that many people were waiting for him at the end of his speech, wanting to shake his hand even though they knew he wasn’t really there.”
He also wrote about his discussions on religious freedom with PM Modi. “I have followed with concern the reports that, since Modi took office, an increasing number of members of other religions, mostly Muslims and Christians, are being attacked by Hindu nationalists. When I discussed this matter with Modi, he strongly denied it and insisted that India was and always will be a religiously tolerant country. Unfortunately, the facts say otherwise. We could not agree on this point. My worry “
“Modi was very focused on improving the standard of living of Indians, especially for rural people. He boosted economic growth, mainly by addressing the countless administrative problems that were everywhere. He appointed an employee in his office as a contact person for companies that have problems with their projects. This has created what is called a fast track for investments,” he wrote.
In October 2015, the third consultation between the German and Indian governments took place in New Delhi. “Because Modi had heard about my love for classical music, he organized a small concert for all the participants after lunch. He had music specially composed for the occasion. It was premiered by an orchestra playing both Indian and European instruments – a symbol of our cultural ties. I loved moments like this in my official appointments; they not only gave me the opportunity to better understand my conversation partners and their ideas, but also exposed me to new cultural worlds. This also created an atmosphere of closeness in which it was easy to find political compromise,” he wrote.