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On 19 November 2015, H.E. Martin Ney, Germany’s Ambassador to India, held an interaction with members of the VIF faculty on a broad range of issues, including, among others, the shifting strands in the present world order, the challenge of ISIS-borne terrorism across Europe, Russia’s pro-active foreign policy, especially its intensifying involvement in the Syrian conflict, and the issues of mutual strategic interests between Germany and India. The interaction kicked off with General NC Vij, Director, VIF, counting Germany among India’s best friends, also underlining the fact that Russia’s latest involvement in the Syrian conflict and the most recent terrorist attack in Paris resulting in the deaths of 129 innocent people are some of the developments which have led to greater solidarity amongst the European countries in recent times. He wondered whether the European responses to some of these challenges would remain episodic or these will be followed by sustained efforts over a longer duration.

H.E. Dr. Martin Ney made a presentation for about half an hour and also took questions from the audience. He began his talk with an insightful analysis of the underlying dynamics in the present bilateral relationship between Germany and India, underscored by a growing level of mutual trust between the present leadership in both the countries, increasing volumes of bilateral trade, and an almost 20 percent increase in the number of Indian students going to Germany for higher studies. He further said, while Germany and India stand for common values, there are imminent threats to these values. Besides sharing his views on the ISIS challenge in Europe and a full blown refugee crisis – a fallout of the conflict in the Middle East - impacting Germany more than any other European country, the Ambassador shed significant light on the major challenges facing the present day world order, with the East-West relationship subsuming a major chunk of the interaction. The VIF panel which interacted with the German Ambassador included Lt Gen (retd) Ravi Sawhney, Shri C.D. Sahay, Amb Rajiv Sikri, and Amb TCA Rangachari, among others.