New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind and First Lady Savita Kovind paid a state visit to the Kingdom of Netherlands from April 4 to 7 at the invitation of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima. They were accompanied by Loganathan Murugan, Minister of State in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Dilip Ghosh, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha).
The maiden visit of the President of India to the Netherlands marked an important milestone as India and the Netherlands celebrate 75 years of diplomatic relations this year. It is also the first Head of State visit from India to the Netherlands in more than three decades. The President was welcomed with full state honours at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam by his majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty Queen Maxima on April 5.
Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte met President on April 6. On the same day, President also visited the Dutch Parliament where he was received by President of the Senate Jan Anthonie Bruijn and President of the House of Representatives Vera Bergkamp. In his meeting with Willem-Alexander, President highlighted the natural partnership and synergies between India and the Netherlands as two democracies, major economies, drivers of innovation and technology and key advocates of free and open Indo-Pacific.
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They discussed ways to further strengthen cooperation in priority sectors of water, agriculture, health, climate and clean energy, people-to-people and cultural cooperation. Both the leaders also exchanged views on current regional and global developments. In his discussions with the Dutch Prime Minister, the President recalled the virtual summit held between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Rutte on April 9 and the announcement of the strategic partnership on water.
Both sides expressed happiness at the signing of the Joint Statement on strategic partnership on the water on March 29, 2021, between the Minister of Jal Shakti and the Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and Water, which lays a roadmap for intensifying bilateral cooperation in this key sector leveraging Dutch expertise and experience in addressing several common water-related challenges.
President welcomed Dutch start-ups and SMEs working in the field of geospatial mapping, Artificial Intelligence, clean energy, assistive technology and bio-medical devices to ‘Make in India’ and innovate in India. During the visit, President and First Lady laid a wreath at the National Monument in Dam Square in memory of those who sacrificed their lives in World War II and armed conflicts.
They also participated in a special ceremony at the famous Keukenhof Tulip garden to name ‘Maitri’ Tulip as a symbol of the historic friendship between the people of India and the people of the Netherlands. The President addressed a gathering of the Indian community and friends of India, including representatives of Suriname-Hindustani community members in the Netherlands where he acknowledged the positive contribution made by them to the host country and their role as a living bridge between India and the Netherlands.
The President and First Lady, along with their Majesties King and Queen of the Netherlands, also graced a special cultural performance on ‘Ramayana’ by Kalakshetra Foundation of Chennai, which was co-organised by the Embassy of India in the Netherlands and the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM) celebrations.
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On the sidelines of the state visit, several key decisions were announced like (I) Extension of MoU on bilateral cooperation in the field of Ports, Maritime Transport and Logistics, (II) Extension of the Programme of Cooperation between the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India and Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, Government of the Netherlands, (III) MoU for the Cosmos Malabaricus Project between Leiden University and the Kerala Council of Historical Research, National Archives of the Netherlands on digitizing 17th-century archives and making them available to Indian and International researchers and (IV) Extension of MoU with State Archives Department, Kerala and National Archives of the Netherlands on the execution of the Shared Cultural Heritage Programme.
India and the Netherlands enjoy long-standing friendly and multi-faceted relations with a broad agenda of cooperation marked by shared values of democracy, rule of law and growing convergences on global and regional issues. The State visit of the President, which took place as both India and the Netherlands celebrated the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties, reflected and reiterated the commitment to further deepen the relationship for the mutual benefit of the people of both the countries.
