New Delhi - Germany is preparing its navy to take part in the fight against piracy in the Gulf of Aden as the bandits step up their attacks off the Somali coast, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Thursday during a visit to India.
"I hope that in the next few days we have reached a decision," Steinmeier said in New Delhi, two days after the Indian Navy sank a pirate ship for the first time off the coast of Somalia.
The German parliament, the Bundestag, is to decide in December whether to participate in the European Union's operations against Somali piracy.
The EU's mission is set to begin on December 8 with contributions from countries that include France, Greece, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Sweden and Finland.
The German government is seeking clarification of the powers their soldiers would have in the region.
Steinmeier, who was beginning his visit to India, was to hold political discussions later in the day with opposition leader LK Advani before meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
The leaders plan to discuss responses to the global financial crisis and ways to deal with climate change as well as the security situations in Pakistan and Afghanistan and Iran's disputed nuclear programme.
Steinmeier said he hopes the new US government would send new signals to Iran.
"Nothing changes in the fact that Iran must move on this issue," Steimeier said, adding that international pressure on Iran must be kept up.
On Friday, Steinmeier was to travel to the southern city of Bangalore, considered India's information-technology hub, where he is to open a German consulate.
He was scheduled to leave for Berlin on Friday evening. (dpa)
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