Merkel and delegation of business leaders to visit India

Angela Merkel, German Chancellor, prompts Europeans to seek economic opportunity in India.

Photo: Merkel and delegation of business leaders to visit India

Merkel will leave Monday for a four-day trip to India along with a delegation of business leaders.

"As Europeans, we have every opportunity, including in a country like India," Merkel said at an Asia conference in Berlin. "We just have to get involved."

For a long time, Germany has been very focused on China, she said, but India also "is a dramatically growing country" with great economic perspectives.

Merkel will be accompanied by a delegation of managers from top German companies such as industrial conglomerate Siemens AG and chemical company BASF as well as the Deutsche Bahn railroad firm on the trip to Delhi and Mumbai.

It will be Merkel's first trip to India; she has already visited another Asian economic power, China, twice during her chancellorship.