MSC Aries incident: German Envoy Ackermann hopes for early release of Indians
German ambassador speaking to WION earlier in the day
The German ambassador to India, Dr Philipp Ackermann, has expressed hope for the swift release of Indian nationals who were onboard the Israel-linked Portuguese-flagged commercial vessel MSC Aries, seized by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend.
Speaking to our diplomatic correspondent Sidhant Sibal, he said, "We support the Indian call; we feel that India has every right to look after its citizens." Of the 25-member crew of the vessel, 17 are Indian nationals. He termed the Israel-Iran conflict as "very dangerous". In addition to discussing the current crisis, Dr. Ackermann also touched upon the broader relationship between India and Europe.
Full interview transcript:
WION: How do you see the current situation in West Asia?
DrPhilipp Ackermann: You might have seen my government's reaction; they have condemned the attack by Iran on Israeli soil in the strongest terms. Germany is very worried; I think we are facing a very dangerous situation. And my government has been very active to try to de-escalate the situation. So I think the need of the hour is to reduce the tension so that the spiral of violence is not escalated.
WION: Over the weekend, we also saw the Iranians seizing commercial vessels where there are 17 Indians on board as well and India has been calling for early release, what is Germany's stance?
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DrPhilipp Ackermann: We support the Indian call; we feel that India has every right to look after its citizens. And I know that my minister, my foreign minister raised the issue when she talked to the Iranian foreign minister during the weekend because she did the same as for EAM DrS Jaishankar. She called both the Israeli and Iranian Foreign Ministers in order to de-escalate but I know that embassy advice was also an item and she mentioned it in order to release these hostages.
WION: How do you see India Europe, India Germany relationship. Also India goes to election later this week, your assessment as the largest democracy goes to elections
DrPhilipp Ackermann: So elections are a unique opportunity and every diplomat in Delhi is privileged to witness the biggest election exercise in the world. Very excited to see what is happening in the next several weeks, and very excited to see results at the beginning of June. It is a fantastic festival of democracy and I am very happy that it takes place in my tenure. So, India Europe, the sky's the limit and very excited with the new attention Europe gets from the Indian govt. Maybe the culminating point is our negotiation of a free trade agreement between Europe and India and we are pushing for it and we hope in the future we get a favourable result on it.