Due to lack for preparedness from the Indian side, no minister of the German government accompanied him during his entourage to India.

The German Ambassador to India, Thomas Matussek said ; “we were expecting to sign three agreements and one MoU in the presence of the President. But there was no adequate preparation from the Indian side. One such proposed agreement is that relating to combating terrorism, providing training and equipment. We had sent our draft to the Indian ministry of home affairs in July 2009. I met the Indian home minister, P Chidambaram last month. The draft is still being discussed by the Indian ministry of home affairs and the Indian ministry for external affairs.”

According to Matussek, other proposed agreements were relating to energy and technology cooperation and social security and a proposed MoU on corporate social responsibility. But none of these drafts were ready for signature, he said and added “this is an on-going process. We are not in a hurry.”

On the proposed defence deal, Matussek said : “we do not insist on monitoring clause. We offer technology transfers. We are bidding Euro fighter, Euro jet for LCA. Indian Air Force had shortlisted our multi re-fuelling aircraft. But it was rejected at the political level. It was a nasty surprise for us. We were not communicated nor explained about this.”

President Kohler was received at Air Force Station at Palam in Delhi on his arrival on February 1. On February 2 he was given a ceremonial reception at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. He laid a wreath on the samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi and had a meeting with the Indian Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh at Hyderabad House. The rest of the day he was visited by the external affairs minister, SM Krishna, Vice President M Hamid Ansari, the chairperson of the ruling UPA coalition, Sonia Gandhi and the leader of the Opposition in the Indian Parliament.

He addressed a business meeting jointly hosted by the three apex industry bodies on February 2 and on the eveing the Indian President, Pratibha Devisingh Patil hosted a banquet in his honour.

On February 3 President Kohler visited Max Muller Bhavan for setting up of a German House of Science and Innovation and inaugurated Indo Max Planck Institute for Computer Science at the Indian Institute of Technology after interacting with the students and faculty members

On February 4 he will be leaving for meeting business leaders in Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad. In Pune he is scheduled to visit Foxwagon.

Expressing concern over global terrorism, President Kohler at a business meeting in Delhi said ; “this ideal of an open society is anathema to extremists of every stripe. The horrific terrorist attacks on Mumbai in November 2008 are another ominous example. These cowardly attacks, which cost the lives of 166 people - including three Germans - were not only directed against India and the Indian people but against the entire free and democratic world. During those difficult times, we Germans knew that we stood side by side with India. Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the victims' families. The attacks brought home to us once more that we can only overcome such threats if we work together.”

He emphasized the need for a genuine global governance which would take into account the destiny of each nation, regardless of their size and to take benefits of globalization for gaining prosperity. “During the last few years, India and Germany have joined forces to make it clear that our two countries are prepared to shoulder even more responsibility in the United Nations,” he said.

The disappointing outcome of the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change showed that the international community still has far to go if it wants to effectively protect the one world we share he said

Lauding India's domestic effort to mitigate global warming he said : “both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with his convergence principle and the German Chancellor have focused on the question of global per capita emission norms….Cooperation on renewable energies and increased energy efficiency will therefore continue to be priorities in India-German development cooperation.”

The German President called upon nations to jointly combat global financial crisis, climate change and other global challenges. He gave the example of European nations coming together under European Union but also admitted that in Europe there were still strong instincts among nations to put their own interests first instead of regarding Europe as a community with a shared destiny. Also many countries are resorting to protectionist tendencies as a reaction to the global financial crisis.

He said that while drawing up new rules either for financial markets, global trade or climate protection, nation states will have to play a crucial role in the future. But this was a challenging task for democratically elected politicians, he said as they have to act locally and cater to their voters in their constituencies and also and increasingly think in global terms. Considering the interests of other countries in a democracy would require both responsible politicians and informed voters.