India-Netherlands Joint Communiqué ​released during the visit of Prime Minister of the Netherlands to India

June 05, 2015

• The Prime Minister of the Netherlands His Excellency Mr. Mark Rutte is undertaking an official visit to India on 5-6 June 2015 at the invitation of the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi. Prime Minister Rutte\'s itinerary includes official meetings in New Delhi on June 5 and business engagements in Mumbai on June 6. He is accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Ms. Lilianne Ploumen, the Minister for Agriculture Ms. Sharon Dijksma, senior officials and a large business delegation representing over 100 Dutch companies.
  
  
• On June 5 2015, Prime Minister Rutte and Prime Minister Modi held wide-ranging discussions on bilateral and global issues of mutual interest, followed by a luncheon discussion hosted by Prime Minister Modi with 35 CEOs of leading industries of both countries. The two Prime Ministers expressed satisfaction at the longstanding and historical bonds of friendship between the two countries spanning over four centuries and shared values of democracy, pluralism, multiculturalism, human rights and rule of law. Expressing satisfaction at the growing political, economic, institutional and people-to-people exchanges and cooperation, they welcomed the new momentum in bilateral relations. They took particular note of the significant expansion in economic and commercial engagement in the last decade and the serious interest on both sides to intensify cooperation in several key sectors of mutual interest where there are untapped complementarities and natural synergies. Recognizing their shared interests and responsibilities in addressing a broad range of international issues, including peace and security, free and fair trade and an open, just, inclusive and rule-based international order, the two leaders held in-depth discussions on bilateral, regional and international issues.
  
  
• Recognizing the increasingly globalized nature of threats and challenges and the shared stakes in each other\'s security, the Prime Ministers agreed to expand security and defense cooperation between India and the Netherlands. Both Prime Ministers welcomed the possibility of Dutch participation in India\'s \'Make in India\' initiative in the defence sector.
  
  
• Expressing concern about the serious threat posed by the spread of violent extremism and terrorism to both countries, the Prime Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and reiterated the need for a unified and collective effort by the international community to eliminate terrorism through a holistic approach, including the implementation of the U.N. Global Counter Terrorism Strategy and early conclusion of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism. To enhance bilateral cooperation in this area, they welcomed the setting up of a Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism and convening of the first meeting of the Group on 19 June 2015.
  
• In the context of the 70th Anniversary celebrations of the United Nations this year, the Prime Ministers lauded the legacy of peace, reconciliation and cooperation fostered among nations by the United Nations and its central role in the multilateral system. They reiterated the validity of the Preamble and the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter and affirmed the desirability of reforming the United Nations, including the need for early reform of its Security Council,in order to make it more broadly representative, efficient and transparent. They discussed their support for expansion of the membership of the Council, including permanent members, and noted that India would be an obvious candidate for such a permanent seat. The Netherlands suggested that the issue of the veto deserves further attention. Both countries expressed full support for the work of the Chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiations on Security Council reform in this regard. Both sides underscored the imperative of delivering concrete outcomes on the reform of the United Nations, including its Security Council, by the upcoming 70th Anniversary Summit of the United Nations. India reiterated its support for a non-permanent seat for the Netherlands in the UN Security Council for 2017-18. The Netherlands reiterated its support for a non-permanent seat for India in the UN Security Council for 2021-22.
  
  
• The two Prime Ministers recognized the significance of international trade in enhancing development and prosperity. Recalling that the India-EU Strategic Partnership was launched in 2004 during the Dutch Presidency of EU, they acknowledged the importance of early conclusion of negotiations to finalize a balanced and ambitious India-EU Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement.
  
  
• Prime Minister Rutte lauded the transformative economic initiatives introduced by Prime Minister Modi and the resurgence of the Indian economy while Prime Minister Modi commended the Netherland\'s acknowledged industrial and technological competencies and its role as the 5th largest global exporter of goods in reviving the European economy. Noting that bilateral relations have historically been underpinned by strong economic and commercial ties, both leaders expressed satisfaction that the Netherlands had identified India as a priority country for economic engagement and had emerged as India\'s 5th largest trade partner in the EU and the 5th biggest foreign investor in India.
  
  
• In the above context, the two Prime Ministers exchanged views on India\'s flagship initiatives such as \"Make in India”, \"Digital India”, \"Skill India\'\" and \"Clean India” and agreed that these and other specific programmes like \"Affordable Housing for All\", \"Ganga Rejuvenation Plan” and \"Smart Cities\" offered significant collaborative commercial opportunities for Indian and Dutch industries and had substantial potential to qualitatively upgrade bilateral economic engagement. Noting the tremendous complementarities between world class Dutch competencies and India\'s current needs in priority sectors, they agreed that the Netherlands was uniquely placed to become a preferred partner in key sectors such as water management and clean water technologies; shipping and inland waterways; infrastructure development, port and airport upgrading; smart cities and smart transportation; high-tech materials and systems; renewable energy and power; sanitation and solid waste management; skill development; maritime heritage and archaeology; telecommunications, agro-processing and dairy farming; horticulture and floriculture; health; biotechnology; sports; banking and insurance.
  
  
• Recognizing the importance of skill development initiatives, the two Prime Ministers agreed to foster cooperation in this area by instituting a Joint Working Group to facilitate exchange of best practices and collaboration in specific sectors as well as finalize a framework Memorandum of Understanding.
  
  
• As a step towards forging deeper cooperation, the two Prime Ministers committed to enhancing cooperation under the Joint Economic Committee and Memoranda of Understanding already existing in the fields of Shipping, Urban Development, Science & Technology, Health, Renewable Energy, Agriculture and Sports.
  
  In this context, the two leaders welcomed:
1. The initiative of setting up an EU Ganga platform to coordinate efforts among European partners, in which the Netherlands committed itself to play a leading role.
2. Visit by a team of Dutch experts to India for finalizing and advancing the identified areas of collaboration with the National Mission on Clean Ganga.
3. Program of cooperation between Ministry of Heavy Industries, India and Ministry of Economic Affairs, Netherlands to share best practices and to develop joint pilot projects for the development of an electric vehicle ecosystem in India.
4. Agreement between Cochin Shipyards Limited (CSL) of India and Dutch Shipbuilder Royal IHC to jointly build dredgers in India, including transfer of technology from IHC to CSL as a significant collaborative initiative towards \"Make in India” in a priority sector.
5. Agreement between BIBCOL and Intravacc on vaccine development and manufacturing vaccines against Measles-Rubella in India, with transfer of technology.
6. The agreement to expand existing cooperation in the area of large scale cohort studies with a Joint Cohort study on HIV patients between Erasmus University Medical Centre, International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) India, ICMR and DBT.
7. Memorandum of Understanding on Cultural Cooperation between India and the Netherlands.
8. Extension of Memorandum of Understanding in Agriculture for a further period of three years.
9. The \"Health Hacketon” initiative to find innovative digital solutions for e-healthcare access and affordability in collaboration with the private sector.
10. Collaboration between the Netherlands and the State of Maharashtra in infrastructure development and delivery in and around the City of Mumbai, including integrated approach to challenges related to Coastal Road and Metro.
11. Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Telangana and Wageningen University of the Netherlands for a knowledge partnership and collaborative research in the development of food and agribusiness sector in priority areas like cold chain infrastructure, livestock and horticulture production system in the state of Telangana.
12. Establishment of a Centre of Excellence for vegetables and flowers at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala under the Indo-Dutch Action Plan, using Dutch technical expertise for training field officers and transfer of technology.
13. Agreement between Baramati Agricultural College in Maharashtra, India, and Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands to facilitate capacity building and demand driven curricula for students with the objective of entrepreneurship development.

The two leaders also agreed to explore ways of advancing cooperation through specific initiatives of mutual interest, through aRoadmap for Cooperation (given below) between India and the Netherlands

• Noting that the Netherlands was home to the second largest Indian Diaspora in Europe, the two Prime Ministers expressed satisfaction at the close people-to-people ties and agreed to actively promote further exchanges in the areas of economy; art and culture; academia and education; science and technology; and tourism; and explore ways to enhance mutual understanding and friendship between their peoples. In this context, the two leaders welcomed India’s decision to include the Netherlands in the Electronic Tourist Visa Scheme which will come into effect in a few weeks.
  
  
• Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Rutte welcomed the rapid intensification of the India-Netherlands relationship and committed to work together to take the bilateral engagement to the next level. Prime Minister Rutte thanked Prime Minister Modi for the warm hospitality extended to him and his delegation.

Roadmap for Cooperation between India & Netherlands

Infrastructure, connectivity and Water Management

 • Facilitate private sector initiatives such as

ø Agreement on cooperation with Rotterdam Port on port development in India

ø Talks between carriers on enhancing connectivity between New Delhi/Mumbai and Amsterdam

ø Memorandum of Understanding to be signed by Schiphol Airport CARGO and GMR/IGIA on facilitation of exports from India (initially pharmaceuticals)

ø Exploring the possibilities for a project for wetland reclamation in Kanpur;

 Agriculture

 • Following the establishment of a Centre of Excellence in Kerala, further establishment of such Centres in Maharasthra (floriculture and vegetables) and Punjab (potatoes, floriculture).

 • Collaboration in coldchain and seeds between a Dutch consortium and the Indian retailer Future Group.

 Smart Cities

 • Collaborate on developing a Smart City in India.

 • Explore involvement of Dutch companies in providing affordable urban street lighting and other solutions(LED technology for both lighting and smart grids solutions);

 Health

 • Convene next meeting of the Joint Working Group on Health in July 2015 in the Netherlands to enhance collaboration.

 • Identify partners to advance Anti Microbial Research collaboration within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding on Health.

 • Welcome initiatives from the private sector like

ø Readiness of Philips to invest in scanning equipment in hospitals and provide affordable diagnostic solutions;

ø ONCOVAN project for mobile healthcare solutions in rural areas

 Sports

 • Collaboration between Sports Authority of India and Dutch Sports Infrastructure for stadia management and utilization.

 • Welcome the Dutch One Million Hockey Legs initiative, an umbrella program for a range of grassroots hockey related events aimed at training one million Indian children in hockey by the 2018 HockeyWorld Cup.

 • Exploring collaboration in setting up the first Sports Museum in India.

 • Cooperation between the consortium Dutch Sports Infrastructure and the Sports Authority of India to set up a demo field on the premises of the JNU stadium.

 • A visit by an Indian team to the Dutch National Sports Centre Papendal to explore the possibility of collaboration in sports such as cycling and swimming.

 • Twinning activities in field hockey (to be executed through the KNHB and Hockey India).

 Renewable Energy/Waste to Energy

 • Cooperation in Renewable Energy between Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands ECN, National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) and SardarSwaran Singh National Institute of Renewable Energy, including in biomass gasification technology and developing standards and specifications

 • Visit of a team from the Indian National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) to Netherlands ECN.

 • ‘Make in India’ in Renewables, Solar and Biomass Sector with Dutch collaboration.

 • Cooperation on Solar Road Project including solar photo voltaics and vibrations, in association with the Indian National Institute of Solar Energy.

 • Welcome initiatives from the private sector such as:

ø Shell to launch a Waste to Energy demonstration plant in Bangalore and a global IT Centre in Bangalore;

ø DSM (solar) and Dutch consortium on Waste to Energy projects in India.

Corporate Social Responsibility

• Continuing engagement to strengthen cooperation in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Governance.

Science and Technology;

• Expand collaboration between the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Indian Department of Science and Technology under the umbrella of the MoU between these Ministries

• Implement agreed projects between Dutch and Indian counterparts (NWO, DBT/DST/DeitY) on a cost sharing basis; with a commitment to ensure appropriate budget appropriations.

• Build on the success of joint cooperation in new water treatment technologies under the Dutch India Water Alliance for Leadership (DIWALI), leading to a scalable project initiated in Vadodara.

• Agree to explore cooperation between the proposed Indian Institute of Marine Biology & Biotechnology and the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research

• Plan to explore collaborative training programmes in clinical research between DBT and Erasmus University and between DBT and Maastricht University

• Plan to explore collaborative training programmes in the area of biotech and food between DBT and Wageningen University

• Welcome initiatives such as :

ø Shell Programme offering 70 PhDs (Euro 20 million funding by Shell and Euro 23 million by the Netherlands Government (NWO)

ø Intention of Philips Electrical to enhance skilled manpower strength in its Bangalore R&D unit from 1500 to 5000.

Skill development

• Cooperate on skill development and institutional partnerships through India’s National Skills Development Corporation and the National Skills Development Fund. Explore possible role for PUM as a Knowledge Partner.

• Exchange of information on initiatives sponsored by the Netherlands on Women’s empowerment/entrepreneurship.