INDIA, September 18, 2019 (India Post): Indo-Dutch contacts go back to more than 400 years. Official relations with independent India, established in 1947, have been cordial and friendly. India’s economic growth, its large market, its pool of knowledge workers are of interest to the Netherlands. The two countries also share common ideals of democracy, pluralism and the rule of law. Bilateral ties have been marked by strong economic and commercial relations. The Netherlands hosts the second largest Indian diaspora (after the UK) in Europe and the largest Indian diaspora community on mainland Europe, totalling around 235,000 comprising 35,000 Indians and 200,000 Suriname-Hindustani community of Indian origin.
Since the early 1980s, the Dutch government has identified India as an important economic partner. Bilateral relations underwent further intensification after India’s economic liberalization in the early 1990s. In 2006, former Prime Minister Balkenende’s government declared India, along with China and Russia, as priority countries in Dutch foreign policy. The successful visit of the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to India (June 5-6, 2015) set the stage to take bilateral ties to the next level and realize the full potential of the relationship. The highlight of 2017, which was the 70th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship between India and the Netherlands, was the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Netherlands in June 2017.
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