Embassy of India
The Hague

Press Release
August 17,  2020

74th Independence Day of India was celebrated at India House- the official residence of Mr. Venu Rajamony Ambassador of India to the Netherlands in Wassenaar.
In view of the COVID-19 and to facilitate participation by Indian Nationals, members of Diaspora as well as friends of India in the Netherlands, the event was telecast live on the social media page of the Embassy in The Hague. More than 2500 people were reached with the celebrations online.

The celebrations began with Ambassador unfurling the national flag which was followed by playing of the national anthem. Ambassador read out the message from the President of India to the nation. The event also included rendering of patriotic songs and performances of Indian classical dance.
 
In his address, Ambassador informed of two key announcements for further facilitating the consular services by the Embassy to the Indian nationals and Diaspora in the Netherlands. He conveyed that Indian nationals and members of Diaspora will soon be able to submit the various documents to the Embassy via post and will also be able to receive various documents from the Embassy by post. It will smoothen the process by avoiding visits to VFS centers in the Netherlands. Ambassador also informed that the Embassy will soon start printing of passports in The Hague and this will significantly reduce the time taken, from two weeks to few days, for issuing passports to the Indian nationals in need. In view of the fact that the Netherlands is home to the largest Indian Diaspora on mainland Europe which includes about 40,000 Indian nationals and 2,00,000 strong members from the Surinami-Hindustani community, the delivery of consular services attains tremendous significance.

In recent years, India- Netherlands relations have attained new heights with a number of high-level visits from the two sides.  During the COVID-19 situation, the leadership from the two sides has been exchanging views on various issues. Dr. S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of India spoke with Mr. Stef Blok, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands in June and Shri Piyush Goyal. Minister of Commerce and Industry  held telecon with Ms. Sigrid Kaag, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation in May this year. Amid the COVID-19 situation, Philips- a Dutch industrial conglomerate has announced USD 40 million investments for expanding its Pune facility. The Netherlands is the third-largest foreign investor in India with investments amounting to USD 6.5 billion in 2019-20. The cumulative investments in India from the Netherlands stand at USD 33.85 billion. The Netherlands is also a major investment destination for Indian companies with a total investment (ODI Stock) of over US$ 12 billion as of March 2018.

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