Boosting trade ties to be focus of German Chancellor Merz's visit India next week
New Delhi (PTI): German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will undertake a two-day visit to India next week that is expected to focus on shoring up bilateral cooperation in a range of areas, including trade, investment, defence and technology.
Merz's first trip to India as the chancellor from January 12-13 is taking place as New Delhi focuses on boosting its overall economic engagement with Europe against the backdrop of Washington's punitive tariff on Indian goods.
The German leader will arrive in Ahmedabad on January 12. He will travel to Bengaluru after concluding his engagements in Ahmedabad, including talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"The prime minister will receive Chancellor Merz on January 12 in Ahmedabad. The two leaders will take stock of the progress made in diverse aspects of the India-Germany Strategic Partnership, which completed 25 years last year," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
"The discussion will also focus on further intensifying cooperation in trade and investment, technology, education, skilling and mobility, while also advancing collaboration in important domains of defence and security, science, innovation and research, green and sustainable development, and people-to-people relations," it said.
The German Chancellor's visit to India is taking place days before top leaders of the European Union arrive in Delhi for finalising the much-awaited India-EU free trade agreement.
India will host French President Emmanuel Macron next month. Macron is visiting India to participate in the AI Summit.
The MEA said Prime Minister Modi and Chancellor Merz will also engage with business and industry leaders and exchange views on issues of regional and global importance.
"The visit will build on the momentum generated by regular interactions at the highest political level," it said.
"It will provide a valuable opportunity to reaffirm the shared vision of India and Germany to build a forward-looking partnership for the benefit of the people of both countries and the wider global community," the MEA said in a statement.
People familiar with Merz's visit to India said boosting trade and investment ties will be a major focus area of the German leader's trip.
The talks between Modi and Merz will be held under the framework of India-Germany Inter-Governmental Consultations.
The German chancellor is visiting India amid a fractious geopolitical environment, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the US capturing Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro.
It is expected that the Russia-Ukraine conflict may figure prominently in Modi-Merz talks.
The two leaders may also review progress in bilateral cooperation in the area of clean energy.
In 2024, the two sides launched the Indo-German green hydrogen roadmap that was aimed at supporting India's ambition for production, usage and export of green hydrogen.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Grok obscene AI content: X submits response, IT Ministry examining it, say sources
New Delhi (PTI): The IT Ministry is examining the response and submissions made by X following a government directive to crack down on misuse of artificial intelligence chatbot Grok by users for the creation of sexualised and obscene images of women and minors, sources said.
X had been given extended time until Wednesday, 5 PM to submit a detailed Action Taken Report to the ministry, after a stern warning was issued to the Elon Musk-led social media platform over indecent and sexually-explicit content being generated through misuse of AI-based services like 'Grok' and other tools.
Sources told PTI that X has submitted their response, and it is under examination.
The details of X's submission were, however, not immediately known.
On Sunday, X's 'Safety' handle said it takes action against illegal content on its platform, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary.
"Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content," X had said, reiterating the stance taken by Musk on illegal content.
ALSO READ: Israeli PM Netanyahu calls PM Modi; briefs on Gaza Peace Plan status
On January 2, the IT Ministry pulled up X and directed it to immediately remove all vulgar, obscene and unlawful content, especially generated by Grok (X's built-in artificial intelligence interface) or face action under the law.
In the directive on Friday, the ministry asked the US-based social media firm to submit a detailed action taken report (ATR) within 72 hours, spelling out specific technical and organisational measures adopted or proposed in relation to the Grok application; the role and oversight exercised by the Chief Compliance Officer; actions taken against offending content, users and accounts; as well as mechanisms to ensure compliance with the mandatory reporting requirement under Indian laws.
The IT Ministry, in the ultimatum issued, noted that Grok AI, developed by X and integrated on the platform, is being misused by users to create fake accounts to host, generate, publish or share obscene images or videos of women in a derogatory or vulgar manner.
"Importantly, this is not limited to creation of fake accounts but also targets women who host or publish their images or videos, through prompts, image manipulation and synthetic outputs," the ministry said, asserting that such conduct reflects a serious failure of platform-level safeguards and enforcement mechanisms, and amounts to gross misuse of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in violation of stipulated laws.
The government made it clear to X that compliance with the IT Act and rules is not optional, and that the statutory exemptions under section 79 of the IT Act (which deals with safe harbour and immunity from liability for online intermediaries) are conditional upon strict observance of due diligence obligations.
"Accordingly, you are advised to strictly desist from the hosting, displaying, uploading, publication, transmission, storage, sharing of any content on your platform that is obscene, pornographic, vulgar, indecent, sexually explicit, paedophilic, or otherwise prohibited under any law...," the ministry said.
The government warned X in clear terms that any failure to observe due diligence obligations shall result in the loss of the exemption from liability under section 79 of the IT Act, and that the platform will also be liable for consequential action under other laws, including the IT Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
It asked X to enforce user terms of service and AI usage restrictions, including ensuring strong deterrent measures such as suspension, termination and other enforcement actions against violating users and accounts.
X has also been asked to remove or disable access "without delay" to all content already generated or disseminated in violation of applicable laws, in strict compliance with the timelines prescribed under the IT Rules, 2021, without, as such, vitiating the evidence.
Besides India, the platform has drawn flak in the UK and Malaysia too. Ofcom, the UK's independent communications regulator, in a recent social media post, said: "We are aware of serious concerns raised about a feature on Grok on X that produces undressed images of people and sexualised images of children".
"We have made urgent contact with X and xAI to understand what steps they have taken to comply with their legal duties to protect users in the UK. Based on their response, we will undertake a swift assessment to determine whether there are potential compliance issues that warrant investigation," Ofcom said.
