India and Germany strengthen telecom cooperation under Joint Declaration of Intent
New Delhi: India and Germany advanced telecom cooperation following the signing of a Joint Declaration of Intent (JDI), with both sides committing to structured collaboration in digital infrastructure and emerging technologies.
A bilateral meeting took place on 18 February 2026 at Sanchar Bhawan in New Delhi. Union Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia and Germany’s Federal Minister for Digital Transformation and Government Modernization Karsten Wildberger led the talks. The discussions focused on strengthening ties under the Indo-German Strategic Partnership.
The meeting followed the signing of the JDI on 10 January 2026 during the India–Germany Summit. The declaration created a non-binding framework for structured telecom cooperation and digital governance. Both sides described it as a milestone built on openness, trust, innovation and resilience.
Scindia stressed that the partnership must move beyond broad statements. He called for structured and outcome-driven implementation. He highlighted India’s digital growth, noting over 1.23 billion telecom subscribers and nearly a billion internet users. Moreover, he said 5G services now cover about 99.9% of districts. Data tariffs average around USD 0.10 per GB, making services widely affordable.
He underlined India’s progress in Digital Public Infrastructure. In particular, he cited Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as a globally scalable model for interoperable payments. He said the indigenous stack processes about 250 billion transactions annually and operates in multiple partner countries.
Roadmap for telecom cooperation and 6G engagement
Wildberger praised India’s technological achievements. He expressed interest in structured telecom cooperation in advanced systems, digital governance and secure networks. He shared Germany’s work in quantum encryption and secure information transport. He referred to a 35 km quantum communication link that operated for 11 consecutive days.
Both ministers discussed convening the first high-level meeting under the JDI framework. They plan to finalise a two-year work plan with clear timelines and defined stakeholders. In addition, they agreed on periodic virtual reviews to ensure measurable outcomes.
The two sides identified priority areas such as 5G and 5G-Advanced, early 6G standardisation, trusted telecom architectures and resilient supply chains. They also emphasised collaboration on secure and sovereign 6G networks, AI at the edge and industry-grade network slicing. Furthermore, both stressed coordinated engagement at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to promote interoperable global standards.
Institutional partnerships were highlighted as a key pillar. Ongoing cooperation between C-DOT and the Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz Institute in advanced telecom research was cited as a model. Areas include quantum communications, artificial intelligence and next-generation networks.
India sought Germany’s support for Ms. M. Revathi’s candidature for Director of the Radiocommunication Bureau at the ITU. It also requested backing for India’s re-election to the ITU Council for 2027–2030 and for hosting the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in 2030.
Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to building trusted networks, resilient supply chains and future-ready digital infrastructure through sustained telecom cooperation under the JDI framework.
