India, Germany in hi-tech talks

The German foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, has arrived in Bangalore at the start of a visit to India aimed partly at establishing stronger ties in high-technology industries.

Germany has an acute shortage of computer experts and has already announced its intention to issue twenty-thousand green card visas later this year for foreign nationals to fill the vacancies.

Government officials in Berlin have denied that Mr Fischer is on a recruitment drive in India, where there are large numbers of highly-skilled software professionals.

However, the German ambassador in Delhi H.D. Diekmann this week disclosed that the visa issue would feature prominently in the minister's talks with his Indian opposite number, Jaswant Singh.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service