1 India-Netherlands Relations General Indo-Dutch Contacts Go

General

Indo-Dutch contacts go back to more than 400 years. Official relations, which were established in 1947, have been cordial and friendly. India's economic growth, its large market, its pool of knowledge workers are of interest to the Netherlands. The main plank of the bilateral ties has been the strong economic and commercial relations. The two countries also share common ideals of democracy, pluralism and the rule of law. Since the early 1980s, the Dutch Government has identified India as an important economic partner. The bilateral relations underwent further intensification after India’s economic liberalization in the early 1990s. In 2006, former Prime Minister Balkenende's Government declared India, along with China and Russia, as priority countries in Dutch foreign policy. Rutte-2, with Frans Timmermans as the Foreign Minister, is committed to continuing the policy of maintaining warm bilateral relations with India. Today, relations between India and the Netherlands have become multifaceted and encompass cooperation in various areas.

Political and Economic

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh visited the Netherlands in 2004. The Dutch Prime Minister Mr. Peter Balkenende visited India in January 2006. The second State visit of Queen Beatrix to India took place in 2007. Dutch Foreign Minister Rosenthal visited India in 2011. Other Ministerial level visits from both sides have taken place fairly regularly in the last two years (list of visits is attached at Annex. I).

A number of Bilateral Agreements and MOUs have been concluded in diverse areas covering economic and commercial cooperation, culture, science and technology and education (list is attached at Annex. II).

India-Netherlands Foreign Office Consultations were held on 11 June 2014 in New Delhi. The Indian side was led by Shri Dinkar Khullar, Secretary (West) and the Dutch side was led by Ms. Renee Jones-Bos, Secretary-General, Dutch MFA. Discussions on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest took place. It may be recalled that the last round of FOCs were held in January 2011 in The Hague.

Trade and investment cooperation is a key component of India-Netherlands relationship and has shown satisfactory growth. Two-way trade has continued to grow steadily and stands at €6.38 billion today. Netherlands remains among the top 20 partners of India in terms of volume of bilateral trade with significant positive balance of trade in favour of India. It is also the sixth largest investor in terms of foreign direct investment into India. India can usefully collaborate with the Netherlands and tap its world-class expertise in water management, infrastructure and logistics including ports and highways, inland water transportation, ICT, biotechnology, agriculture, agro processing, dairy farming, horticulture, floriculture, creative design industry, etc. Presently, there are 174 Indian companies based in the Netherlands, attracted by the Dutch tax system which is transparent, stable and flexible. There have been major acquisitions and mergers by Indian companies including that of Tata Corus (now Tata Steel), Apollo-Vredestein, acquisition of Theodoor Gilessen bankiers by the Hindujas, etc. Many Dutch multinationals and major companies like Philips, Shell, Unilever (Hindustan Lever in India), KLM and a number of Dutch banks have a growing and successful presence in India. The main Indian exports to the Netherlands are refined

petroleum products, which constitute around 47% of our total exports to the Netherlands. Besides refined petroleum products, other major items are articles of apparel and clothing including yarns and fabrics, telecommunication equipment, chemicals, passenger vehicles, pharma products. The main products imported by India from the Netherlands are machinery and transport, chemicals and metal scrap.

During the visit of Dutch Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Ms. Lilianne Ploumen to India in the beginning of September 2013, a decision was taken by the Dutch Minister and CIM to establish the Joint Trade and Investment Committee (JTIC). MoU on setting up a JTIC at was shared with the Dutch side for their views which have since been received and forwarded to Department of Commerce in India.

Her Majesty Queen Maxima visited India from 30 June - 3 July in her capacity as a Special Advocate for Financial Inclusion of the Secretary-General of the United Nations. During the visit, she met Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley.

Culture and Education

In May 1985, a Cultural Agreement was signed between the two countries, which provided for cooperation and exchanges in education and science, art and culture. The MOU on Cultural Cooperation expired on 31 December 2010. Efforts to revive the MOU are underway. The Dutch, however, now prefer cultural contacts between institutions of the two countries and have lowered their emphasis on government-to- government cultural agreements.

Indian Cultural Centre named “Gandhi Centre” in The Hague was inaugurated on 2nd October 2011. Shri Vinay Choubey has taken over as the first Director for the Gandhi Centre from November 2013. Cultural events are being organized on a regular basis at the Centre. On 5 July, a colorful cultural programme of Gujrati Folk Dance “Saptak” was organized at the Gandhi Centre. The cultural troupe was sponsored by ICCR. The event was well received by the selected invitees including members from Diplomatic Corps, officials from Royal Household as well as prominent members of Indian and Surinami-Hindustani community.

There is an increasing interest in the Netherlands to strengthen cooperation in academic and educational fields. An ICCR Chair of Contemporary Indian Studies was established at Leiden University in September 2011. Similar interest has been expressed by Universities of Amsterdam, Maastricht and Erasmus University of Rotterdam.

Diaspora

The Netherlands has the second largest population of people of Indian origin in Europe (next only to the U.K.). A 230,000-strong Indian Diaspora (200,000 Surinami- Hindustani community and 20,000-25,000 NRIs/PIOs) provides an important means to foster closer ties with the Netherlands. The Surinami-Hindustani community is integrated into the Dutch society and is also active in local politics. In view of the aging population in the Netherlands and shortage of special skills, Netherlands has instituted a knowledge migrant scheme, under which 5000 knowledge workers have come from India in the recent years, the maximum from any country. An Indian Diaspora Conference (IDC) was held in The Hague on 29 September, 2013 with the theme “The Rise of Indian Diaspora in Europe”.

The Deputy Mayor of The Hague Municipality, Mr. Rabin Baldewsingh, one of the leaders of the Surinami-Hindustani community, has been conferred with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA) for the year 2014. Earlier, PBSAs have been conferred on two prominent members of the Indian Diaspora, viz. Mr. Ram Lakhina and Mr. Wahid Saleh, in 2009 and 2011 respectively. The prestigious PBSA has been awarded for the first time to a member of the Surinami-Hindustani community.

Useful Resources

For more information and latest updates please visit Embassy of India, The Hague website: http://www.indianembassy.nl/ Embassy of India, The Hague Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Embassy-of-India-The-Hague/147843231949434 India Global- AIR FM Gold Program featuring India and The Netherlands Relations: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKdxTqD8lKE

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July 2014

Annex. I

Visits from Netherlands:  November 2007: Foreign Trade Minister Mr. Frank Heemskerk.  February 2008: Transport & Water Mgmt Minister Mr. Camiel Eurlings  February 2009: Foreign Trade Minister Mr. Frank Heemskerk  October 2009: Social Affairs & Employment Minister Mr. Piet H. Donner  February, 2011: Mayor of Rotterdam, Mr. A. Aboutaleb  April 2011: Infrastructure/Environment Minister Mrs. Melanie Schultz VHaegen.  May 2011: Mayor of Amsterdam, Mr. E. van der Laan  July 2011: Foreign Minister Dr. Uri Rosenthal  November 2011: Minister of Agriculture and Foreign Trade Mr. Henk Bleker.  December 2011: Mayor of The Hague, Mr. Jozias van Aartsen  March 2012: Mayor of Amsterdam, Mr. E. van der Laan  May 2012: Minister of Health, Welfare and Sports Ms. Edith Schippers  September 2013: Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Ms. Lillianne Ploumen  January 2014: Minister of Health, Welfare and Sports Ms. Edith Schippers

Visits from India:  March 2008: Minister of Science, Technology & Earth Sciences Shri Kapil Sibal  May 2008: Minister of State Food Processing Industries, Shri Subodh Kant.  June 2008: Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, Shri Vayalar Ravi  September 2008: Minister of Law & Justice, Shri H.R. Bhardwaj  November 2008: President ICCR, Dr. Karan Singh.  November 2008: Finance Minister, Shri P. Chidambaram  September 2009: Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, Shri Vayalar Ravi.  May 2010: Minister of State for Communication & IT, Shri Sachin Pilot  September 2011: Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, Shri Vayalar Ravi.  April 2012: Minister of Shipping, Shri G.K.Vasan  May 2012: Minister for Agriculture & Food Processing Ind., Sh. Sharad Pawar  October 2012: Minister of Health & Family Welfare Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad  May 2013: Minister for Urban Dev & Parliamentary Affairs Shri Kamal Nath  June 2013: Minister of Communications & IT and Law & Justice, Shri Kapil Sibal.  June 2013: Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports, Shri Jitendra Singh.  July 2013: Minister of State for Shipping, Shri Milind Deora.

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Annex. II

List of Agreements

. Air Services Agreement (May 1951) . Treaty for the Mutual Surrender of Fugitive Criminals (Anglo – Dutch Treaty of 1898 effected in 1971) . Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation (February 1983) . Cultural Agreement (May 1985) . Agreement on Scientific Cooperation (November 1985) . MoU for cooperation in the field of telecommunications (September 1987) . MoU on environmental cooperation (January 1988) . Avoidance of Double Taxation Prevention of Fiscal Evasion (July 1988) . MoU on cooperation in agriculture and animal husbandry (September 1990) . Agreement for the promotion and protection of investments (November 1995) . MoU for investment promotion (February 2004) . MoU on Cultural Cooperation (October 2007) . MoU in the field of Ports and Maritime Transport and Logistics (February 2008) - further extended in May 2011 for 3 years. . MoU on Cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation (March 2008). . Social Security Agreement (October 2009). . MoU for establishment of “Long-Term Chair for study of Contemporary India” at Leiden University between Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and Leiden University (December 2010) . MOUs proposed to set-up short term Chairs for India Studies in Amsterdam University, Erasmus University Rotterdam; Maastricht & Nyenrode Universities. . Letter of Intent (LOI) for Cooperation in areas of Corporate Governance and CSRs (June 2011) . Revised Protocol amending Convention between India and Netherlands on Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion (May 2012). . MoU on Food Safety between Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India and Consumer Product Safety Authority under Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, Kingdom of the Netherlands (November 2012). . MoU in the field of Spatial Planning, Water Management and Mobility Management (May 2013). . MoU on Cooperation in the field of Healthcare and Public Health (January 2014). . MoU on technical cooperation in the field of the development of sports infrastructure (January 2014).

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