India-Netherlands Relations 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). In the last decade or so, Foreign Office Consultations(FOC) have been held infrequently. The last FOC took place in January 2011 in the Netherlands. It was preceded by one held in New Delhi in September 2007. 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 ten 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, 1 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 September 2013, a decision was taken to establish the Joint Trade and Investment Committee (JTIC) at Additional Secretary level. Culture and Education: In May 1985, a Cultural Agreement was signed between the two countries, which provides 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 2 October 2011 and a new Director for Gandhi Centre has recently joined. There is an increasing interest in the Netherlands to strengthen cooperation in academic and educational fields. Some of the top academic institutions in the Netherlands have ongoing collaboration with a number of Indian educational institutions. An ICCR Chair of Contemporary Indian Studies established at Leiden University is operational since September 2011. Similar interest has been expressed by Universities of Amsterdam, Maastricht and Erasmus University of Rotterdam which is being followed up by the Embassy. 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 leverage to foster closer ties with the Netherlands. The Surinami-Hindustani community is more fully integrated into the Dutch society and is also more 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. The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas - Europe held in September 2009 was an important step to further cement these ties. An Indian Diaspora Conference (IDC) was held in The Hague on 29 September, 2013 with the theme “The Rise of Indian Diaspora in Europe”. Deputy Mayor of The Hague Municipality, Mr. Rabin Baldewsingh, one of the leaders of 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. ***** February 2014 2 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. ***** 3 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