German chancellor Angela Merkel began her visit in India on Tuesday. One of the reasons of this four-day visit is to encourage economic relations between the two nations. During her stay she will hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Angela Merkel said during a luncheon meeting in New Delhi with business leaders: “Our co-operation has come a long way. We will have to further build up on that. We feel the potential of India-Germany co-operation has not been fully tapped.

“One common problem the two have is that good research is required in scientific and technological spheres,” Ms. Merkel added.

The German chancellor also said that further talks would be held next week on account of the development of trade with energy efficiency as the new input. A co-operation between the two countries in the fields of information, materials technology and research on aerospace were also on the list of Ms. Merkel.

She thanked India for its support to Germany in different assemblies and said that with its 650 million farmers, the country has a constructive role in the World Trade Organization talks.

Regarding the environmental issue of climate change she argued that the countries need to co-operate. “A balance has to be obtained between the interests of the developing countries and the developed industrialized countries,” Ms. Merkel said, according to media sources.

Indian Minister for Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath asked for German businessmen to invest into India. He said: “As India continues its steady march towards becoming an industrialized nation over the next two or three decades, I invite German businesses to participate in this exciting growth story.”

The minister also said that bilateral trade between the two countries grew to over 10 billion euros last year. Germany is the largest trading partner of India within the European Union and also the seventh investor in India, inflows reaching $ 1.9 billion from 1991 to June this year.