Currently, more than half of India’s population is under the age of 27. Hence, the South Asian nation tops the list of youngest countries in the world and also becomes unrivalled in a sense! On the other hand, the median age of Germans is 47 years, meaning that half the German population is younger and the other half older! Naturally, there is a huge demand for skilled professionals in the Western European country. Berlin recently released a strategy paper of recruiting skilled workers from India.

It is a significant development as India is the second country on which Germany has drafted such a specific strategy paper. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz discussed the issue with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the former’s visit to New Delhi on October 24-26, 2024. The decision of the Scholz Administration would make it easier for the Indians to get visas. The Government of Germany has also decided to arrange German language education for them. Prime Minister Modi has welcomed Berlin’s move as the free movement of skilled workers from one country to the other is the best symbol of the success of a globalised economy.

Various statistics published in the strategy paper show that a significant portion of the Indian work force working in Germany is employed in jobs that require substantial educational and technical skills. The average income of these people is also much higher than other working groups in Germany. These facts are irrefutable credentials of the quality of higher education institutions in India. Prime Minister Modi, who often questions what happened in India before his tenure, should keep this evidence in mind.

The question arises here: Why is there so much surplus of highly educated skilled workforce in India even after launching the Make in India project by Prime Minister Modi? In fact, Germany wants to take advantage of India’s demographic dividend. The Prime Minister used to mention it whenever he got an opportunity until a few years ago. It is a fact that a younger work force and proper technical education can help a country to ensure rapid economic development. The country only requires sufficient investment to boost production. Unfortunately, India could not use this opportunity.

It may be noted that the cost of manufacturing (especially wages) is a lot lower in India than in developed countries. Had India managed to use the same work force that Germany is trying to attract, the Modi Government could easily boost production with a much lower salary package for workers. It would also reduce the cost of production. However, India has failed to attract large-scale (foreign) investments.

In fact, high trust economy attracts major investments. Countries, where citizens trust their government, usually attract investments. These countries also have cooperative governments in power.

Prime Minister Modi may wonder why the Government of India has failed to gain public trust under his leadership!

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das