Talk by Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schonbach, Chief of the German Navy on ‘Germany's Indo Pacific Strategy’

The talk by the Chief of the German Navy, Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schonbach was organised on 21 January, 2022 by Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi in its premises. The theme of the event was “Germany’s Indo Pacific Strategy” Ambassador Sujan R. Chinoy, DG MP-IDSA delivered the opening remarks and welcomed the Vice admiral and his colleagues.

Vice Admiral Schonbach began the talk by thanking India, the Indian Navy and MP-IDSA for providing a platform to discuss Indo-German ties. He expressed gratitude on behalf of the German frigate that had docked in Mumbai the same day. He focused on the rapid changes in the global security scenario, consequent to the actions of various nations. The Vice Admiral also mentioned that the rules based international order is where the various institutions and formats of cooperation in the Indo Pacific should converge.

Vice Admiral Schonbach praised India as the “Tallest”, not just the largest democracy, and one of the biggest contributors to the UN peacekeeping operations worldwide. He appreciated India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ and ‘Act East’ policies as a true hallmark of a responsible power. Not only the bilateral cooperation with Germany but also the ‘Quad’ format, fosters freedom and security in the Indo Pacific.

In his concluding remarks, Vice Admiral Schonbach clarified the German position to be in line with the EU and that German prosperity is intrinsically linked to that of the Indo Pacific people. He said Germany recognizes the regional countries and particularly India to be on the forefront to find common multilateral solutions to maintain the security and stability of the region. German CNS signalled his government’s interest in sending a ship to the Indian waters for a longer tenure in future and joint working of the German and Indian navies at training sites in Cochin.