Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a virtual summit with the Prime Minister of the  Netherlands Mark Rutte on Friday.

During the summit, both leaders discussed in detail about the bilateral cooperation and new ways to strengthen the relationship between the two nations. PM Modi also wished Mark Rutte on his fourth win.

PM Modi said that the two countries have similar approaches to a number of issues, including climate change, extremism, pandemics, and other issues. In the Indo-Pacific resilience supply transition and global digital governance, he said, the two countries will continue to converge.

He also thanked his counterpart Mark Rutte for taking care of the Indian community living there during the pandemic and expressed confidence that post Covid time, a slew of new opportunities would emerge for like-minded countries to expand mutual cooperation and collaborations. 

India – Netherlands Relations

Indo-Dutch contacts could be traced back to more than 400 years. The Dutch entered India looking for tapping the potential market and exploring more opportunities in trade.

Both nations have warm and friendly ties based on common values such as democracy,  rule of law, and freedom. In continental Europe, the Netherlands has the largest Indian diaspora.

Both countries have wide-ranging cooperation including in areas of Water conservation, agriculture and food production, urban mobility,  healthcare, science and technology, renewable energy, and space.

Trade and Commercial Relations

Netherlands and India have a robust economic partnership, with the Netherlands becoming India's third-largest investor in 2017- 2018.

There are over 200 Dutch companies present in India with a similar presence of Indian businesses in the Netherlands. Bilateral trade between India and Netherlands grew in India’s favour during April-March 2018.