On April 9, 2021, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi & Prime Minister of Netherlands Mark Rutte co-chaired the India-Netherlands Virtual Summit 2021.
- It was the 1st High-level summit attended by PM Mark Rutte after the Netherland general elections which were held in March 2021. PM Rutte became the Prime Minister of the Netherlands for the 4th Consecutive Term.
- During the meeting, the two sides held discussions on areas of trade and economy, water management, agriculture sector, smart cities, science & technology, healthcare and space.
- They exchanged views on challenges such as climate change, counter-terrorism and the covid-19 pandemic.
- They also agreed to use the emerging convergences in new areas like Indo-Pacific, Resilient Supply Chains & Global Digital Governance.
Key Takeaways from Joint Statement
Strategic Partnership on Water
- The two PMs agreed to institute a ‘Strategic Partnership on Water’ to deepen the relationship between the countries in the water related sector. They also agreed to upgrade the Joint Working Group on water to Ministerial-Level.
- They noted that Innovation, Technology & Governance are key aspects of Indo-Dutch water cooperation. Netherlands are world leaders in water management.
Trade, Commerce & Investments
- The two sides agreed to set up a bilateral Fast Track Mechanism for promoting bilateral trade. For Dutch companies & investors in India, it will be set up in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), for Indian companies in Netherlands, Netherland’sforeign investment agencies will be responsible.
- India highlighted the role of Access India Initiative (AII) to attract investments from Dutch SMEs to the Indian market.
Agriculture
- The two countries reiterated commitment for completing the establishment of all Centres of Excellence (CoE) sanctioned under the Indo-Dutch Joint Action Plan on Agriculture.
- They agreed to set up 25 CoEs by 2025 in Agriculture related sectors.
Smart Cities & Urban Planning
The two sides welcomed the extension of MoU for promoting technical cooperation in fields of Spatial Planning, Water Management, Mobility Management & urban development (includes smart cities).
Science & Tech
- Both leaders agreed to launch two new calls on the WAH! Agenda. It focuses on societal challenges in areas of Water, Agriculture, and Health using innovation & technology.
- They are working towards creating new modalities for cooperation such as innovation & technology demonstration field labs & expanding existing bilateral projects through vocational training and doctoral & post-doctoral exchange.
ISA & CDRI
PM Modi thanked the Netherlands for their support to International Solar Alliance (ISA) & Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
Fact
- Netherlands became the 3rd largest FDI Investor in India (Largest FDI investor in India is Singapore), while India became the 4th Largest FDI investor in Netherland during 2019-20.
Recent Related News:
i.On January 25, 2021, the Government of Netherlands hosted a virtual international Climate Adaptation Summit (CAS Online) 2021 with the support of Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) from Amsterdam, Netherlands. From India, The summit was addressed by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi.
About Netherlands:
Prime Minister – Mark Rutte
Capital– Amsterdam
Currency– Euro
