By H. E. Rajesh N. Prasad, Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of The Netherlands.
Less than two months ago, India completed the largest democratic exercise ever conducted in history. An electorate of more than 800 million registered voters cast their votes in over 900,000 polling stations. This was done through nearly two million electronic voting machines to choose candidates from over 300 political parties for the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha (Lower House of the Indian Parliament). Apart from the large turnout in the elections (over 66%), for the first time in 30 years, a political party secured a majority in the national Parliament on its own.
The new government led by Prime Minister Modi has come to power on the twin planks of governance and development. It has already made known the emphasis it is placing on development through a number of measures focusing on, inter alia, the supply side of agro and agro-based products, skill development, development of infrastructure, etc. as also its desire to rationalize and simplify the tax regime to make it non adversarial and conducive to investment, enterprise and growth.
India today means many things to many people. The images range from that of a large overpopulated country with poverty to a vibrant democracy with a robust and growing middle class, a large pool of skilled manpower and a country which has made advances in the fields of IT, space, biotechnology etc. For many, the connection to India comes from its spiritualism and things like yoga, Ayurveda and meditation. However, to my mind, the defining characteristics and by far, India’s greatest attributes are its open society, tolerance, pluralism and democracy.
The linkages between India and the Netherlands are historic with contacts going back more than four hundred years. Traders, scholars, itinerant travelers have come to India from the Netherlands during this period. By some accounts, the first Indian came to the Netherlands in 1667.
Diplomatic relations between India and the Netherlands was established in 1947 and has been cordial and friendly. In the more recent past, trade and investment have become the dominant themes in our bilateral ties. Today, the Netherlands is both a significant trade and investment partner of India. A number of Dutch majors have had a presence in India for a long time and are household names. We now also have a large number of Indian companies in the Netherlands including all the IT majors. The substantial Indian diaspora in the Netherlands is also playing a useful role and acting as a bridge between the two countries.
There is a good potential for taking bilateral ties between the two countries to a higher level. The complementarities are fairly obvious. On the one hand, India has a young demographic profile, large and growing domestic market, a significant pool of knowledge workers and huge developmental requirements especially in the infrastructure. The Netherlands, in turn, has expertise and niche technology across a broad range, solid credentials in research, world class educational institutions as also a requirement for skilled personnel and a market for its exports. There is a natural match. Areas of special interest for greater cooperation include water and waste management, infrastructure and logistics, agriculture, shipping, cold storage chains etc.
The Netherlands is a friendly, informal and hospitable country. I have found goodwill and friendship from my Dutch interlocutors as also a genuine interest in India and a desire to strengthen ties with India. This has been most gratifying.
