India and Germany today exchanged instruments of ratification of Social Security Agreement (SSA). The agreement establishes the rights and obligations of nationals of both countries and provides for equal treatment of their nationals and unrestricted payment of pensions even in the case of residence in the other contracting state. <br/><br/>The requirements to be entitled to a pension can be met by aggregating the periods of insurance completed in India and Germany, whereby each country pays only the pension for the insurance periods covered by its laws. <br/><br/>The period of posting will be up to 48 calendar months. The SSA will come into force from 1st of May this year. It was signed by the two nations in October 2011. An official release issued in New Delhi said the SSA between India and Germany will favorably impact the profitability and competitive position of Indian and German companies with foreign operations in either countries by reducing their cost of doing business abroad. The SSA will also help promote more investment flows between the two countries.<br/><br/>India has so far signed and operationalized Social Security Agreements (SSAs) with 18 countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and South Korea.