India and Germany have taken a significant step to strengthen bilateral cooperation in postal, express and logistics services with the signing and exchange of two key instruments on January 12, 2026, in Ahmedabad, during the visit of Friedrich Merz, Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The two instruments include:

a Joint Declaration of Intent (JDoI) between the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications, Government of India, and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy; and

a Letter of Intent (LoI) between the Department of Posts and Deutsche Post AG, Germany’s designated postal operator.

The JDoI was signed by Vandita Kaul, Secretary (Posts), and Philipp Ackermann, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to India. The LoI was signed by Jitendra Gupta, Director General Postal Services, and Tobias Meyer, CEO of Deutsche Post AG / DHL Group.

The collaboration envisages a structured partnership across postal, express and logistics services, with a strong focus on cross-border e-commerce and time-definite international deliveries. It provides a framework for developing joint products and services, strengthening network connectivity and last-mile cooperation, and exploring bilateral rate arrangements for letters and parcels. The partnership also emphasizes the exchange of best practices in digitalisation, operational efficiency, sustainability and green logistics.

A key expected outcome is the launch of joint premium international express products, including a time-definite international express service leveraging India Post’s last-mile reach and the global express and logistics network of the Deutsche Post–DHL Group. This integrated model is expected to significantly improve transit times, reliability and end-to-end visibility for international shipments originating from India.

The initiative aligns with the Government of India’s vision to boost exports, especially from MSMEs, startups, artisans and small producers, by offering reliable, affordable and globally competitive logistics solutions. By strengthening India’s logistics ecosystem and access to international markets, the collaboration is expected to support higher export volumes and deeper participation of Indian businesses in global value chains.

The signing of the instruments underscores the shared commitment of India and Germany to deepen economic cooperation, promote innovation in postal and logistics services, and support sustainable growth in international trade.