Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be in Germany on a 3-day visit from April 21-23. The two countries are likely to ink a ‘defence industrial cooperation roadmap’. Besides, they will look to enhance military-to-military engagements and explore opportunities in emerging domains.The defence industrial cooperation roadmap is to be signed at a time when the two countries are on the verge of announcing a deal to co-produce next generation conventional submarines in India.The plan involves German company ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems tying up with Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) to build six such vessels for around $8 billion.In June last year, TKMS and MDL signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on making these stealth submarines that have a specific technology called air-independent propulsion (AIP) allowing the vessel to remain submerged under water for a longer period of time.The Ministry of Defence said the visit would provide an opportunity to review the ongoing defence cooperation initiatives and identify new avenues for collaboration between the defence industries of both countries. Rajnath Singh is also expected to interact with key representatives of the German defence industry, with a view to promoting joint development and co-production under the Make-in-India initiative.TKMS is a global market leader for non-nuclear submarines based on air independent propulsion (AIP) technology, which helps a submarine to stay under water for longer periods. India had sought operational AIP technology, which would allow a submarine to remain under water for up to six days.The TKMS-MDL pact aims to utilise the latest technology from Germany and the manufacturing abilities of MDL for making submarines. MDL, headquartered in Mumbai, is a public sector company owned by the Ministry of Defence.As per the pact, TKMS will contribute to the engineering and sign of the submarines as well as provide consultancy support to this joint project. MDL will take the responsibility for constructing and delivering the submarines. The construction of the submarines will take place in India and is expected to have significant local content.The Ministry of Defence said Rajnath Singh’s visit would further strengthen strategic defence partnership between the two countries. During the visit, Singh is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with his German counterpart Boris Pistorius and other senior leaders of the government.Discussions will focus on enhancing defence industrial collaboration, strengthening military-to-military engagements, and exploring opportunities in emerging domains such as cyber security, artificial intelligence, and drones.