Schroeder's Asia visit: pacts signing for 16 locomotives, cement plant this week

Regional stability and trade will take centre stage during German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's visit to India, Vietnam, Pakistan and Afghanistan this week as Berlin seeks to bolster ties with Asia.
Government sources said the tour underscores "Schroeder's great interest in the continent" and, in particular, opportunities for German industry in the "booming economies" of Asia.
Schroeder will leave for New Delhi late on Tuesday with a large business and political delegation before taking part in the Asia-Europe (ASEM) leaders' summit in Hanoi on October 8-9.
The chancellor will then travel to Pakistan on October 10 and, barring an escalation in violence in Afghanistan, continue on to Kabul on October 11 before returning to Berlin.
In New Delhi, Schroeder will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss relations with India's nuclear rival Pakistan and Indian efforts to liberalise its economy.
"There have been differences within the Indian government over these reform measures," a source close to Schroeder said. "We aim to support the process."
A senior government official said that India is a major "strategic partner" for Germany as the world's most populous democracy and home to the second largest Muslim community.
He noted that India shares Germany's commitment to multilateralism on the world stage, underscored by joint bid last month, together with Brazil and Japan, for permanent seats on an expanded UN Security Council.
Germany is also India's third biggest trade partner, after the United States and Britain.
The ASEM conference will bring together the European Union and seven members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) plus China, Japan and South Korea.
In Hanoi, the chancellor will also hold talks with Vietnamese political leaders including President Tran Duc Luong and open a Goethe Institute cultural centre.
In Pakistan, the chancellor will hold talks with President Pervez Musharraf on regional security issues such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Kashmir as well as the fight against terrorism and bilateral trade ties.
German small and mid-sized companies already have strong links to Pakistan, in particular in the textiles industry.
Two major contracts are to be signed during Schroeder's stay - for the purchase of 16 locomotives from German industrial giant Siemens for 46 million euros (57 million dollars), and the construction of a cement plant.
A government source said Germany appreciated Islamabad's efforts to promote an "enlightened Islam" in the face of widespread fundamentalism and said Pakistan was indispensable in the struggle to stabilise the region.
The final leg of the tour will take Schroeder to Kabul October 11, just two days after the Afghan presidential election and in the wake of an attack on German troops in northern Afghanistan.
A government source said Schroeder could cancel his trip to Afghanistan if the violence there worsened.
In the Afghan capital, Schroeder is to meet President Hamid Karzai, the commander of the international peacekeeping force, members of the two German-run PRTs (provincial reconstruction teams) and the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's envoy to Afghanistan, Jean Arnault.