Ties between India and Germany have been on the upswing over the past several years; in recent months, there has been a push to deepen defence industrial cooperation and technology exchange. The India visit of the German chief of defence, Carsten Breuer, last week underlined efforts on military cooperation and strategic engagement. Given this new round of cooperation — against the backdrop of Trump-injected uncertainty — was nurtured on the German side by a centre-Right dispensation in Berlin, India has watched electoral developments in Germany with keen interest.

Rarely have state elections in Germany, such as those held in September in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and Berlin, generated such an international response. For the first time since the end of the Nazi dictatorship, a party classified as far-Right — Alternative for Germany/Alternative für Deutschland(AfD) — has won elections by a landslide and could now form or participate in governments in two states. The process of forming governments is still in its early stages. It could end without AfD participation only in Berlin, where the AfD became the third-strongest force on September 20 with 16.3% of the vote, behind Die Linke and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU); this is virtually out of the question. Against such a backdrop, many are asking what is going on with the Germans.

This trend is visible in the western part of the country as well: In March 2026, the AfD garnered 18.8% of the vote in Baden-Württemberg, one of the most populous and economically strongest states, nearly double its 2021 result. More state elections in western Germany are scheduled in the coming months and years, including in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state. If the trend continues, the AfD could make significant gains there as well — a pattern already reflected in........

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