Embassy of India

The Hague

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Brief on India-Netherlands Bilateral Relations

India and the Netherlands established diplomatic relations in 1947. Year 2022 marked 75 years of establishment of diplomatic relations. Today, India and the Netherlands enjoy strong political, economic & commercial relations. High level mutual exchanges have provided impetus to the multifaceted partnership between the two countries. Water, Agriculture and Health (WAH) are 3 priority sectors of cooperation besides technology and innovation.

High Level Exchanges: India and the Netherlands have regular contact at high levels. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi conveyed his congratulations to the new government of the Netherlands led by PM Mr Dick Schoof on assuming office on July 02, 2024. Dr S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister (EAM) of India also conveyed his congratulations to the new FM of the Netherlands Mr Caspar Veldkamp. On September 28, on the sidelines of 79th UNGA meeting in New York, Dutch FM Caspar Veldkamp met with EAM  & held discussions on bilateral cooperation, water management, agriculture, trade and investment. They also discussed various regional & global developments.

Former PM Rutte during his 14 year long premiership visited India thrice in 2015, 2018 and 2023 (for the G20 Summit). An Online Virtual Summit between the two leaders took place in 2021 wherein the India-Netherlands Strategic Partnership in Water was launched and the Joint Working Group on Water Cooperation was elevated to the Ministerial level. PM Modi had visited the Netherlands in 2017.

In April 2022, on the occasion of 75 years of India-Netherlands relations, then President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind paid a State Visit to the Kingdom of Netherlands. The President was ceremonially welcomed at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam by His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty Queen Maxima. He had also met with PM Rutte. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands paid a state visit to India from October 14-18, 2019.

EAM had paid a visit to the Netherlands in November 2019. Then Foreign Minister of the Netherlands Ms Hanke Bruins Slot and Defence Minister Ms Kajsa Ollongren had visited India in February 2024 for the Raisina Dialogue and bilateral meetings. Speaker, Lok Sabha Shri Om Birla visited the Netherlands in August 2022 and interacted with the President of the Senate, Mr Jan Anthonie Bruijn, who later visited India in October 2023 to participate in the P20 Summit.

Institutional Mechanisms: India and the Netherlands discuss issues covering the entire gamut of bilateral relations, through annual consultations led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on both sides at Secretary level. The last Foreign

Office Consultations were held in The Hague on May 02, 2024. The two sides have Joint Working Groups (JWGs)/Dialogues at functional level in the fields of (i) Science & Technology (ii) Agriculture (iii) Healthcare (iv) Urban Development (vi) Counter Terrorism (vii) Maritime Cooperation (viii) Water (ix) Policy Planning (x) Cyber Dialogue (xi) Consular.

Indo-Pacific: The Netherlands issued its guidelines on the Indo-Pacific in 2020 which identifies India as a key partner. India welcomed the guidelines. Both sides recognize the close convergence between each other’s vision for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.

Trade and Commercial Relations: The Netherlands is India’s 11^thlargest merchandise trading partner in the world and the largest in the European Union. During the F.Y. 2023-2024, the total merchandise trade with the Netherlands stood at USD 27.341 billion (INR 226,425 crores). The total merchandise trade with the Netherlands accounts for 2.46% of India’s total merchandise trade. India has a trade surplus of USD 17.393 billion (INR 144,095 crores) with the Netherlands. The Netherlands is India’s largest merchandise export destination in Europe and third largest in the world (after USA & UAE). In the F.Y. 2023-2024, India exported USD 22.367 billion (INR 185,260 crores) worth of goods to the Netherlands. The merchandise exports to Netherlands accounts for 5.12% of India’s total merchandise exports. The main items of Indian exports to the Netherlands include petroleum products, telecom instruments, drug formulations & biologicals, organic chemicals, RMG cotton including accessories, iron & steel, residual chemicals & allied products, electronic instruments, products of iron & steel, aluminium & products of aluminium. In the F.Y. 2023-2024, the Netherlands exported USD 4.974 billion (INR 41,165 crores) worth of goods to India. The merchandise imports from Netherlands accounts for 0.74% of India’s total merchandise imports. The main items of Dutch exports to India include electronic components, medical & scientific instruments, machinery for dairy, vegetable oils, electronic instruments, plastic raw materials, drug formulations & biologicals, organic chemicals, residual chemicals & allied products, iron & steel.

There are over 300 Dutch companies present in India, including major players like Philips, Signify, Akzo Nobel, DSM, KLM, Rabobank, Heineken, TomTom, Paques, Boskalis, Van Oord, Damen Shipyards, Vopak, Aegon, etc. Similarly, there are over 300 Indian companies present in the Netherlands, including all the major IT companies such as TCS, HCL, Wipro, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, as well as Tata Steel, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Reddy’s,Aurobindo Pharma, LT Foods, Nature Bio Foods, Solis, Mittal Steel and United Phosphorus Limited (UPL). The headquarters of the Indian PSU ‘ONGC Nile Ganga B.V.’  is also in the Netherlands. Indian companies have made major acquisitions in the Netherlands like hotel company ‘OYO Hotels and Homes’ acquisition of Amsterdam-based vacation rental firm @Leisure Group, Tata Steel’s purchase of Anglo-Dutch ‘Corus’, Ola’s acquisition of electric scooter company ‘Etergo’, Apollo Tyres’ acquisition of Dutch tyre-maker Vredestein Banden, Aspire Systems’ acquisition of Dutch-Polish software solutions firm Goyello, and the purchase of the Dutch company Bilthoven Biologicals (BBio) by the Serum Institute of India. There are a number of organizations that are active in promoting India-Netherlands trade and investment such as the Netherlands India Chamber of Commerce & Trade (NICCT) and the Indian Business Chamber (IBC).

Water Management: Cooperation in the water sector has been given a further boost by the decision to institute a ‘Strategic Partnership on Water’, and upgrade the JWG on Water to Ministerial-level during the virtual summit held in April 2021. 1^st Meeting of the Ministerial JWG on Water took place in April 2023 during the visit of then Minister of Water and Infrastructure of the Netherlands Mr Mark Harbers to India. The Netherlands is engaged with various States and Municipalities in India to implement water related projects including the States of UP (Namami Ganga Programme), Tamil Nadu (water as leverage, water management and conservation) and Kerala (flood management).

Ports/Shipping/Inland Waterways: India and the Netherlands had signed an MoU in the fields of Ports and Maritime Transport and Logistics in 2008, which was again extended in April 2023. It has a special focus on research and development, shipbuilding, innovation and sustainability. First Meeting of the JWG on Maritime Cooperation took place in India in October 2023. Maritime sector was one of the focus areas for the Dutch trade delegation which accompanied the King and Queen of Netherlands during their state visit to India in 2019.

Agriculture and Food Processing: Agriculture is one of the core sectors identified by the two sides for enhancing bilateral cooperation. India and Netherlands cooperate on agriculture through a Joint Working Group which is led by Ministries of Agriculture on both sides. The 7th meeting of Indo-Dutch JWG on Agriculture Cooperation was held in the Netherlands in April 2024. Under the JWG, India and the Netherlands have signed an action plan which envisages cooperation in establishing Centres of Excellence. We have set an ambitious agenda to establish 25 CoEs by 2025 in Agri sector, 7 out of which are already functional. India also participated in Floriade 2022, which is an international exhibition and garden festival, held every 10 years in the Netherlands.

Healthcare Cooperation: An MoU for Cooperation in the Field of Healthcare and Public Health was signed in January 2014 to promote global research collaboration in emerging health challenges associated with communicable diseases and antimicrobial resistance. India and Netherlands cooperate through a Joint Working Group on Health led by the Ministry of Health on both sides under this MoU. The 5th meeting of this JWG was held virtually in February 2024 and discussions were held on antimicrobial resistance, Covid-19 vaccination, collaboration on digital health and so on.

Urban Development and Smart Cities: India and the Netherlands signed an MoU in the field of Spatial Planning, Water Management and Mobility Management in 2013. Under the MoU, both sides cooperate through a JWG led by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, India and Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Netherlands. The 4th meeting of the JWG was held in June 2021 and discussed cooperation in various fields including in urban development, smart city, waste-to-value projects, geospatial innovation and so on.

Renewable Energy: India and Netherlands have strong cooperation in Renewable Energy. The Netherlands signed the Framework Agreement of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in May 2018. India is one of the convening countries of the Global Commission on Adaptation (GCA), headquartered in the Netherlands. The Netherlands joined the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) in 2021. PM Modi addressed the Climate Adaptation Summit hosted by the Netherlands in January 2021 and had called for CDRI and GCA to work together to enhance infrastructure resilience globally. An MoU on Renewable Energy was signed between India and the Netherlands on 12 September, 2024.

S&T and Space: The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) collaborates with major national funders of research in India such as Department of Science and Technology (DST), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY). The Netherlands was India’s partner country in the Technology Summit 2019 held in New Delhi. The Netherlands was partner country with India for the Global Bio India 2021 Virtual Summit which was held in March 2021. ISRO has long standing cooperation with European Space Agency which has its European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) based in Noordwijk, Netherlands.

Cultural Cooperation: Yoga is very popular in the Netherlands. International Day of Yoga 2021 celebrations took place in a hybrid format on 19 June 2021. An ICCR Cultural Centre "The Gandhi Centre" has been functional in The Hague since 2011. The Centre has an active calendar of programmes including Yoga, Sanskrit, Tabla, Kathak and Hindi language classes, in addition to various programmes related to Indian culture including music, dance, workshops, movies, etc. The Gandhi Centre is also engaged in an outreach programme for various Indian (Surinami-Hndustani ) schools in The Hague.

Indian Community and Students: The Netherlands hosts the second largest Indian Diaspora (after UK) in Europe and the largest on mainland Europe, totalling around 2,60,000 comprising 60,000 Indians and 2,00,000 strong Surinami-Hindustani community of Indian origin. Netherlands is a popular education destination for Indian students, particularly in the field of science & technology. Many Dutch Universities like TU Delft, Leiden University and Maastricht University have long standing collaboration with Indian universities. The number of Indian students has been growing over the years and more than 3500 Indian students are studying in the Netherlands presently.

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