New German govt expected to continue strong ties with India: German envoy

India is increasingly becoming an important country for Germany in the Indo-Pacific region and the next coalition government in Berlin is expected to continue its strong ties with New Delhi, German Ambassador Walter J Lindner said on Monday.

He said relations between India and Germany saw a significant upswing, including in areas of trade and investment, in the last over one decade and that the upward trajectory in ties will continue under the new government.

Lindner's comments came as a new coalition government is expected to take the reins in Berlin following the parliamentary elections that marked the end of Angela Merkel's 16-year tenure as the German Chancellor, a period that saw significant expansion of India-Germany ties. According to reports, Social Democrats (SPD) was ahead of the ruling conservative bloc of Merkel in the federal elections. Merkel has already announced that she will not seek a fresh term at the helm of the country. ''The Indo-Pacific is becoming more and more important for us and India has emerged as a major player in the region. We have strong relations with India and it is expected to continue,'' the German envoy told reporters.

''None of the global issues can be solved without India, be it climate change, global warming, trade issues, COVID-19 vaccination and terrorism...India is important for us,'' he said.

Lindner said there are not many differences among the leading German parties over foreign policy issues and all of them understand the importance of India, and there will be continuity towards the relationship, though there ''could be differences in details''.

The ambassador said that the next government in Germany should be in place by Christmas and that coalition partners will try to thrash out a ''coalition treaty'' for listing various priorities. On Afghanistan, he said anything that fosters terrorism should be handled by the Afghan government, be it help from outside or within the country. He also said that the world community must address the need for humanitarian assistance in the country.

Referring to the Taliban's takeover of Kabul, he said the world community failed to properly predict the speed with which the group took over the country. The envoy said it was a ''misjudgement'' of the Taliban and the velocity of the spread of the group everywhere in Afghanistan, adding there was a lack of good intelligence.

''No one predicted this outcome, everyone thought it would take longer and there would be more time to get people out,'' he said.

Lindner said the ''high expectations'', after 9/11, were to get rid of al-Qaeda and ISIS and then to stay on to boost democracy, human rights and build a better Afghanistan which would be sustainable and have a good army.

''But it didn't work, Taliban were too strong, this has to be analysed,'' he said.

''Do we talk to the Taliban? Yes, we do [like others] but not to establish relations, but to get those people out whom we still have there...we still have people there who worked for us,'' he said.

He said talks with the Taliban will be aimed at providing immediate relief through the United Nations.

Lindner said there was a need to talk to the Taliban so that ''we have some sort of influence on issues such as human rights, the kind of society, rights of women and children should be guaranteed''.

He said that's why they have to talk but also have to take a position as EU, ''when to talk and how officially we talk''. Asked about India and South Africa pressing for TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) waiver on COVID-19-related technologies, Lindner said intellectual property rights need to be protected as not doing so will discourage scientists and companies.

India and South Africa moved the WTO for patent waiver on COVID-19 vaccines and related technologies to ensure their greater availability.

The European Union has not supported the proposal. Lindner said Covax was established to facilitate the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines across the world.