New Delhi, April 21:

Prime minister Manmohan Singh leaves for Germany on Saturday on a four-day visit that will reinvigorate strategic ties between Europe’s biggest economy and Asia’s rising star and bring the two aspirants for Security Council seats into greater harmony on pressing global issues.

Manmohan Singh’s visit - the first by an Asian head of government to Germany since Angela Merkel became chancellor nearly five months ago — comes at a time when the German economy is bouncing back after a long stagnation and an ambitious Berlin is trying to carve a bigger global role for itself.

This buoyant and assertive mood in Berlin matches New Delhi’s new business confidence and civil nuclear aspirations.

Ahead of the visit, Shashi Tripathi, secretary (west) in the ministry of external affairs, encapsulated the new synergy between the two countries. “India is a global player in the economic sphere. The time is just right for synergy between two industrial giants,” said Tripathi.

In a way, Manmohan Sigh’s visit will make the ongoing German affair with India — it is the ‘Year of India’ in Germany — by inaugurating Hanover Fair Monday that will showcase ‘Brand India’ in all its glory and promise.

The Hanover Fair, called Hanover Messe in German, is the world’s biggest trade and technology jamboree and has India as partner country this year after a gap of 22 years. Nearly 320 top Indian companies, including Ashok Leyland, Reliance and Bharat Forge, will display their products at the India pavilion that occupies 11,500 square metres of space, the largest ever by a partner country.

The bilateral agenda for the visit is fairly substantial: three MoUs are likely to be signed between India and Germany in fields of railways, medical research and quality control.

Besides, there is an ambitious agenda for energy security and energy efficiency, especially in the area of clean coal technologies and renewable energy like solar and wind power.

India will participate in a World Energy Dialogue to be held on the sidelines of the Hanover Fair.

The two sides are said to be in the process of negotiating a defence cooperation agreement. Germany is keen to sell India the Eurofighter combat aircraft and the issue is likely to come up for talks between Manmohan Singh and Merkel next week.

Besides bilateral issues, a whole host of global issues, including the Iranian nuclear issue and revitalization of the G4 initiative, of which India and Germany are prime movers, for the expansion of the Security Council will be discussed when Manmohan Singh meets Merkel for talks on Sunday.

The two countries plan to take their bilateral trade to over $10 billion in another two years and they appear to be very close to it. Clearly, the potential for India-German partnership is limitless. “There is still a great deal of potential.

The Germans have been slow in reacting to opportunities in India. I hope this visit changes all that,” Kishan Rana, former envoy to Germany, said.