THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS — Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands on Monday, marking a high-profile diplomatic engagement during the second leg of his five-nation European tour. The visit, which represents Modi’s second official trip to the country since 2017, comes early in the tenure of the newly formed Dutch government, providing a timely opportunity to expand a highly multifaceted partnership. Following his royal audience, the Prime Minister is scheduled to hold a crucial bilateral meeting with his Dutch counterpart, Rob Jetten, to review and strengthen cooperation across several cutting-edge sectors.
The bilateral agenda between New Delhi and The Hague spans diverse, high-tech areas including defence, security, innovation, green hydrogen, and semiconductors, alongside an existing Strategic Partnership on Water. The economic stakes of the relationship remain incredibly high; the Netherlands has solidified its position as one of India’s premier trade destinations in Europe, commanding bilateral trade worth USD 27.8 billion during the 2024-25 fiscal year. Furthermore, the European nation ranks as India’s fourth-largest investor, accounting for a massive cumulative Foreign Direct Investment inflow of USD 55.6 billion.
Beyond commerce, the visit cast a strong spotlight on robust people-to-people ties. The Netherlands serves as a vibrant home to over 90,000 non-resident Indians and persons of Indian origin, alongside a 200,000-strong Surinamese-Hindustani community and approximately 3,500 Indian students enrolled in Dutch universities. Addressing a packed diaspora event, Modi used a poetic botanical analogy to describe the bilateral bond, noting that the Netherlands is celebrated for its tulips just as India is for the lotus, with both flowers teaching that deep roots bring forth immense beauty and strength. He remarked that the overwhelming enthusiasm from the crowd made him momentarily forget he was abroad, declaring that The Hague had truly become a living symbol of Indian friendship.
Shifting his focus to pressing global challenges, the Prime Minister warned that the international community is navigating an incredibly volatile decade, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical conflicts, and the current energy crisis triggered by instability in West Asia. He cautioned that if these compounding crises are not reversed quickly, the developmental milestones of the past several decades could be completely wiped away, plunging millions back into severe poverty. In response, Modi projected India as a rapidly transforming global hub driven by the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, massive digital public infrastructure, and ambitious strides in artificial intelligence. He concluded by emphasizing that the upcoming India-EU Free Trade Agreement will position the Netherlands as the natural gateway for Indian businesses entering European markets, with the local diaspora acting as the ultimate trusted bridge.
