India-Netherlands Relation: There are some relations under foreign policy, whose roots are very strong, but whose noise is less heard in the media. India has such close relations with the Netherlands. The main basis of India-Netherlands relationship is mutual trade and this basis is getting stronger with time.
For the last two decades, Netherlands has remained a strong partner of India from the point of view of exports. European country Netherlands imports on a large scale from India. The Netherlands has been one of India’s biggest export destinations for the past several years. In the first 9 months of the current financial year i.e. 2022-23, the Netherlands has emerged as India’s third largest export destination. India has exported the most to America during this period. On the other hand, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is at number three in terms of exports from India.
Growing exports with the Netherlands
According to the April-December data of the current financial year 2022-23, India has exported goods worth $ 13.67 billion to the Netherlands during this period. Last year i.e. between April-December of 2021-22, this figure was $8.10 billion. This is an increase of about 69 percent in exports to the Netherlands during this period. Bilateral trade with the Netherlands remains in favor of India. That means India exports more and we import less from Netherlands than that. India’s trade surplus with the Netherlands is also expected to increase from $1.5 billion in 2017 to $12.3 billion in 2022 due to strengthening economic ties. According to the Ministry of Commerce, the Netherlands has left behind Britain, Hong Kong, Bangladesh and Germany as India’s export market.
Fastest growth in exports since 20 years
Exports from India to Netherlands have been increasing steadily since 2000-01. During the financial year 2021-22, exports from India to the Netherlands stood at $12.55 billion. At the same time, a year before this, exports in 2020-21 were $ 6.5 billion. Talking about 2000-01, at that time the export to Netherlands was $880 million. Due to the strengthening economic relations, Netherlands has become the third largest exporting country to India in the first three quarters of 2022-23. In less than two years, the Netherlands has moved up six places in this regard. The Netherlands was India’s ninth largest export destination in 2020-21 and fifth largest export destination in 2021-22.
What is the reason for the increase in exports?
The Netherlands has bought petroleum products, electronic goods, chemicals and aluminum goods on a large scale from India in 2022. For this reason, an increase in exports has been recorded. Petroleum companies are using the Netherlands as a distribution center. The Netherlands has emerged as a major trading center in Europe through port and road, railway and waterway links with the European Union. Petroleum exports from India to the Netherlands have gone up to $6.4 billion in the April-November period of 2022-23. It was $ 2.7 billion in the same period last year. During this, Netherlands also bought a lot of aluminium, electrical goods and electronics goods from India. Some of these goods are bought from India and sold to Netherlands, Germany and France.
75 Years of India-Netherlands Diplomatic Relations
Diplomatic relations between India and the Netherlands date back to 1947. Since then, the two countries have established strong political, economic and commercial ties as well as supporting each other in international forums. In the year 2022, 75 years of establishment of diplomatic relations will be completed. To celebrate 75 years of friendship, both the countries jointly released a logo in March 2022. At present, there are strong political, economic and commercial relations between India and the Netherlands. High-level exchanges have helped develop a multifaceted partnership between the two countries. Apart from technology and innovation, there are three priority areas of water, agriculture and health cooperation in the mutual relations between the two countries.
Trade and investment form the basis of the relationship
Economic relations between India and Netherlands have been the cornerstone of bilateral relations. In 1980, the Dutch government recognized India as an important trading partner. The Netherlands is India’s fourth largest trading partner in Europe. The Netherlands is the fourth largest investor in India. At the same time, India is also emerging as one of the top investors in Netherlands. Between April 2000 and June 2022, there was $43 billion in foreign direct investment from the Netherlands in India. In 2019-20, the Netherlands was the third largest investor in India after Mauritius and Singapore with $6.5 billion. Bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $17 billion in 2021-2022. This was the highest bilateral trade ever. In this, India exported $12 billion and imported $5 billion. Bilateral trade during 2020-21 was $ 10 billion. At the same time, a year before that, during 2019-20, bilateral trade was up to $ 11.75 billion. India’s exports to the Netherlands mainly include mineral fuels and mineral-based products, organic chemicals, electrical machinery and equipment, aluminium, iron and steel as well as pharmaceutical products.
Agreed on Fast-Track Mechanism (FTM)
In September 2022, an agreement was reached between the two countries to commercialize the Fast-Track Mechanism (FTM). Its purpose is to speed up the resolution of investment cases of Dutch companies operating in India. This mechanism will further encourage mutual investment, which will help in increasing bilateral trade. You would be surprised to know that there are some Dutch companies in India which have been working for more than 100 years. At present there are more than 200 Dutch companies in India. Indian companies are also investing in the Netherlands on a large scale. More than 200 Indian companies have a presence in the Netherlands. The Netherlands is the fourth most preferred investment destination for Indian companies.
Ties strengthened by high-level visits
Mark Rutte is the Prime Minister of the Netherlands since October 2010. He has visited India twice in June 2015 and May 2018. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Netherlands in June 2017. The summit meeting between the two Prime Ministers was held in virtual form on 09 April 2021 and since then there have been regular talks between the two politicians. In 2022, on March 8 and July 13, there was a telephonic conversation between the two Prime Ministers twice. In April 2022, the then President Ramnath Kovind visited the Netherlands to commemorate 75 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations. These high-level visits and interactions are strengthening the ties between the two countries.
Increasing cooperation in water management
The Netherlands is among the top countries in the world in water management and scientific information. From this point of view, Netherlands becomes very special for India. India-Netherlands have a strategic partnership on water. The ‘Strategic Partnership in Water’ was launched between New Delhi and Amsterdam in April 2021 during the virtual summit between the Prime Ministers of the two countries. Meanwhile, it was decided to raise the level of the Joint Working Group on Water Cooperation to the ministerial level. The Netherlands is associated with several Indian states and municipalities on water-related projects. These include the Namami Ganga program in Uttar Pradesh, water management and conservation in Tamil Nadu and flood management in Kerala. This country has mastered the art of flood control and water distribution over many decades. Water technology, marine technology and delta technology are the three most important areas in the water sector. The two countries are increasing cooperation through the Dutch Indo Water 3 Alliance Leadership Initiative (DIWALI) to identify and address water-related challenges.
Indian community and students in the Netherlands
The Netherlands has the largest number of people of Indian origin in mainland Europe. Talking about the whole of Europe, after the United Kingdom, it has the largest Indian origin diaspora. There are about 2, 60,000 people of Indian origin here, of whom 60,000 are Indians and two lakh are from the Hindustani-Surinamese community. Netherlands is a popular education destination for Indian students especially in the field of science and technology. Several Dutch universities such as TU Delft, Leiden University and Maastricht University have long-standing collaborations with Indian universities. Presently about 4000 Indian students are studying here. Indian professionals in the form of entrepreneurs, doctors, bankers and technical experts are contributing to the development of Dutch society and economy at large.
Benefit from the experiences of the Netherlands
Both countries are working together to implement several joint projects in the field of water management and scientific information. Apart from these, both countries have identified agriculture, health, ports and shipping, science and technology, higher education and urban development as priority areas of cooperation. The Netherlands is collaborating as a key partner in India’s ambitious programs such as Make in India, Skill India, Clean India and Digital India. In June 2017 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Netherlands, then at that time he had said that in India’s economic development, in our priorities for development, the Netherlands is a natural partner. It is clear from these words of PM Modi that how close India’s relationship with Netherlands is and its experiences will help a lot in India’s development in future.
The views of the two countries on international issues and international forums have remained largely the same. With the help of the Netherlands, India got the membership of MTCR (Missile Technology Control Regime) in 2016. The Netherlands also supports India’s bid for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). India-Netherlands relations are more than 400 years old. The first Dutch company was established in India in the 17th century AD. The term Dutch is used for both the inhabitants and the language of the Netherlands. The Netherlands is also known as Holland. In English it is Netherlands, but in Hindi it is more popular as Netherlands. In the changing economic environment, the importance of Netherlands increases for India in terms of increasing political, economic, defense and cultural cooperation with Europe.
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