External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday bid farewell to German Ambassador to India Philipp Ackermann, acknowledging his significant contributions to strengthening the India-Germany Strategic Partnership as the envoy concluded his tenure.

In a message posted on X, Jaishankar confirmed that he had received the German Ambassador for a farewell call. He wrote, “Pleased to receive German Ambassador @AmbAckermann for a farewell call-on.”

The External Affairs Minister expressed appreciation for Ackermann’s role in deepening bilateral ties during his tenure in India. He stated, “Appreciated his valuable contributions to the strengthening of India-Germany Strategic Partnership. Conveyed my best wishes for future endeavours.”

Philipp Ackermann’s career reflects a distinguished trajectory in diplomacy. According to the official website of German Missions in India, he studied art history and economics at the universities of Bonn, Heidelberg and Utrecht, earning a doctorate in art history in 1993.

He joined the German Foreign Service the same year and subsequently served in Rabat, Morocco, and at Germany’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York.

Between 2006 and 2007, Ackermann headed the German Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kunduz, Afghanistan. He later served as Political Counsellor at the German Embassy in New Delhi from 2007 to 2010.

In Berlin, he worked in the offices of German Foreign Ministers Joschka Fischer and Frank-Walter Steinmeier between 2002 and 2006. From 2010 to 2014, he was Head of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Task Force at the Federal Foreign Office and Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Ackermann also served as Deputy Head of Mission at the German Embassy in Washington, D.C., from 2014 to 2016. Before his appointment as German Ambassador to India, he was Director General for Africa, Latin America, and the Near and Middle East at the Federal Foreign Office for five years.

As his tenure in India drew to a close, Ackermann reiterated his optimism about the forthcoming India-European Union Free Trade Agreement. On Tuesday, he described the pact as a major milestone that would transform economic relations and boost commercial activities between the two regions.

Speaking to ANI after a press conference at the German Embassy in New Delhi, Ackermann said the agreement would catalyse cross-border commerce. He called it “a game changer in many ways,” noting that it would encourage more German investment in India and potentially more Indian investment in Germany.

He emphasised that slashing tariffs and removing trade barriers between Europe and India would directly stimulate economic engagement. He expressed confidence that the implementation of the free trade agreement in the first half of next year would generate progressive transformation in the years ahead.

Ackermann added that the deepening of economic synergy would naturally translate into greater people-to-people movement. He remarked that the agreement would increase the number of visitors travelling between India and Germany, strengthening cultural and social exchanges alongside economic ties.

The proposed India-European Union Free Trade Agreement could also help India redirect exports worth an estimated USD 10–11 billion from the United States to the European Union. This would reduce India’s dependence on a single export market while expanding its presence in Europe, according to a report by Rubix Data Science.

Ackermann’s farewell thus coincides with a pivotal moment in India’s engagement with Europe, underscoring both his personal contributions to bilateral relations and the broader strategic trajectory of India-Germany and India-EU cooperation.

ANI