PM Modi with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Brisbane, Australia
On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Brisbane, Australia.
During the meeting, Chancellor Merkel told PM Modi that "relations between the two countries are deepening" and even invited him to visit Germany.
India's foreign ministry spokesman tweeted:
The high-profile meeting between the two leaders comes in the wake of a controversy in India over the government's decision to replace German with Sanskrit as a third language across 500 Kendriya Vidyalayas.
Sources said earlier on Saturday that the move has disappointed the German government and that Chancellor Merkel was likely to take up the issue with PM Modi.
"I am a fervent supporter of Sanskrit, I believe cultural identity is important but look at the globalised reality," German Ambassador Michael Steiner told NDTV on Saturday.
"79,000 students at Kendriya Vidyalayas are being directly affected and Chancellor Merkel is well aware of the situation," he added.
Education Minister Smriti Irani chose to differ and said on Saturday that the decision was taken in national interest.
Officials said that the 2011 Memorandum of Understanding that made German a third language "violates the national education policy." The pact was signed between the Kendriya Vidyalayas and Goethe Institute-Max Mueller Bhawan and was allegedly not referred to the ministry though it was signed in the presence of E Ahmed, then the Minister of State for Human Resources Development.
In the three-language formula, schools teach Hindi, English and a modern Indian language - Sanskrit is said to be a popular option in northern states.