Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit Germany this week along with five ministers, during which several pacts are likely to be inked between the two countries, a top official of the External Affairs Ministry said Monday.

"Several pacts are likely to be signed during the high-profile visit. The ministers of the two countries will also meet and discuss possible areas of cooperation. Defense and other areas are also high priority. We do have a very substantive cooperation in defense, even though our defense minister (A.K. Antony) is not visiting this time," Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai told the media.

During his three-day visit to Berlin, starting April 10, the Indian Prime Minister will co-chair with German Chancellor Angela Merkel the second meeting of inter-governmental consultations to discuss all possible areas of cooperation.

The five ministers in his delegation include External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, in addition to the Foreign Secretary and National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon.

Germany is India's largest trading partner in Europe and is also the eighth largest foreign direct investor in India.