President Kovind Visits Dutch Parliament

[GS Paper 2 – International Relations, Bilateral Ties]

The visit by President Ramnath Kovind to the Netherlands is the first in 34 years after President Venkataraman had visited the Dutch country in 1988.

It is a 3-day visit of the President of India to the Netherlands

Key Developments

• It is significant as the two nations celebrate 75 years of diplomatic relations.

• President Ram Nath Kovind visited the world’s largest flower garden. An important Flower naming ceremony took place which became a landmark in the Indian Netherlands Friendship.

• ‘Maitri’ was named for the yellow tulips in the Netherlands by President Kovind.

India-Netherlands Relations:

• The official relationship between both the countries was established in 1947.

• The Netherlands is the home to the largest Indian community in Europe.

• India and the Netherlands share absolute democracy, pluralism, and rule of law.

• Both the Nations share a friendly relationship and collaborated on various platforms and pacts such as:

1. Dutch Indo Water Alliance Leadership Initiative (DIWALI) – An initiative to design solutions for water challenges collaboratively.

2. Joint Agriculture Working Group (JAWG) – An action plan to establish Centers of Excellence in fisheries, horticulture, animal husbandry, etc.

3. Local Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse(LOTUS-HR) – A collaboration of universities of both countries funded by India’s Dept. of Biotechnology and the Dutch NOW-TTW

4. Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) Culture Center – It was established in 2011 in The Hague.

• The areas where both the nations focus meet are –  Countering terrorism, Bilateral trade, Renewable energy, Strategic ties, Water management, People to People Contact etc.

• The Netherlands is one of the largest trading partners of India and also the largest investor of India.

• India recently has emphasized that the trinity of Health, Agriculture and Water are bedrock of close mutual collaboration between the two nations. In turn, the Netherlands have also proposed to work together in the area of Green Hydrogen and ocean sciences.

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