In private, from The Hague to Brussels and beyond
Kuwait and The Netherlands, Fifty Years of Diplomatic Relations
India and Indo-Dutch Relations
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, Indiaâs 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.
Embassy of Mongolia congratulates Diplomat Magazine
The Embassy of Mongolia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands congratulates the ââDiplomat Magazineââ on its first anniversary and wishes all the staff and friends of the magazine success and long lasting fruitful activities that will, for sure, bring together more and more participants from Diplomatic corps in the Hague and beyond it. The launching of Diplomat Magazine is an important event for Diplomatic Corps not only in The Hague but also for the Missions accredited to the Netherlands as a whole, including our Embassy in Brussels as it helps us to be informed about the events hold in The Hague and recent developments in the Netherlands and the world.
We are confident that the Diplomat Magazine is an attractive and useful platform for exchanging news and information on various events and activities in the diplomatic life in the Netherlands as well as a convenient tool for promoting friendship and cooperation between nations through organizing friendly gatherings and extending a possibility to publicize interesting articles and interviews with prominent politicians and public figures from many countries in the region and the globe.
It is also a good opportunity for our Embassy accredited to the Kingdom of the Netherlands with residence in Brussels to be in touch and informed about latest news and events held in the country as well as to introduce Mongolia to the general public and international community presented in the Netherlands.
Laura Fygi at Kastell De Wittenburg
FETE DE LA MUSIQUE in the Netherlands 2014
Sculpture tour Westbroekpark
Korean Unification and Global Peace
While the United Nations celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2015, Koreans will lament 70 years of national division. Considering all of the challenges and opportunities that the divided peninsula faces â and will continue to confront in the coming years â unification remains an important goal that we must continue to pursue.
Founded formally in 1948 under UN auspices, the then-fledgling Republic of Korea immediately became engulfed in Cold War power politics, which hampered its efforts to join the UN â a goal not achieved until 1991. Since then, however, the Republic has more than made up for its late arrival. It is playing an active role in the UN â the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, and the Human Rights Council â and it is participating in numerous initiatives related to peacekeeping, development cooperation, climate change, non-proliferation, and human rights.
Together with the head of the states before the Dinner hosted by His Majesty King Willem-Alexander during the 3rd Nuclear Security Summit in March 2014. The subscriber is between the King and Prime Minister Rutte. In the picture, Abdullah II ibn al-Hussein King of Jordan, Barack Hussein Obama President of the United States, Her Magesty Queen MĂĄxima.Â
During this time, the international community has also dramatically changed. Globalization and technological transformation have deepened interdependence, and yet insecurity, inequality, injustice, and intolerance remain undiminished worldwide. Two decades after the Rwandan genocide, we continue to bear witness to human cruelty and horror â in Syria, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic, for example. Meanwhile, a billion or so of the worldâs poorest people, including women and children, are barely surviving.
Northeast Asia has its share of trouble. A rising China, a resurgent Japan, an assertive Russia, and an anachronistic North Korea have added new complexities and uncertainties to the region. The latterâs pursuit of nuclear arms is particularly worrying. On its part, the United States is now ârebalancingâ toward Asia.
Growing conflicts over history, territory, and maritime security, combined with an ugly resurgence of nationalism, risk triggering military confrontation, quite possibly through political miscalculation. Left unattended by policymakers and peacemakers, Northeast Asiaâs tensions could undermine the regionâs flourishing economy.
It is in this challenging environment that the Republic of Koreaâs president, Park Geun-hye, took office in 2013. Her foreign policy â called âTrustpolitikâ â aims to transform this atmosphere of suspicion and conflict into one of confidence and cooperation, and to build âa new Korean Peninsula, a new Northeast Asia, and a new world.â
The greatest obstacle to achieving this transformation is the North Korean nuclear question. Over the last couple of months, North Korea has threatened to carry out yet another nuclear test. Todayâs most urgent task therefore must be to prevent this from happening, and then to check further advances in the Northâs nuclear weapons and delivery capabilities.
The semblance of peace on the Korean Peninsula remains fragile, and South Koreaâs government has engaged in intensive diplomatic efforts to rally friends and partners in the region and worldwide to deter the North. The UN Security Council has adopted a series of resolutions to impose extensive sanctions, following the Northâs three previous nuclear tests. Any further provocation will bring the full force of the organizationâs sanctions to bear.
Under these circumstances â in addition to the dire human rights and humanitarian situation in North Korea â Park laid out her vision for a unified Korea. In a recent speech in Dresden, she proposed three concrete and action-oriented proposals to the North that would address its humanitarian problems, build infrastructure for the common welfare and prosperity of the two Koreas, and promote integration of the Korean people.
The humanitarian component of this strategy could be implemented regardless of political and security considerations. For example, it would involve implementing the UNâs 1,000-day project for maternal health and infant nutrition, aimed at ending the Northâs chronically high rate of infant malnutrition. We can only hope that North Korea will respond positively to our proposal. It would be an important first step on a much longer journey.
Koreaâs road to unification will undoubtedly be difficult, and will require the international communityâs support. In return, the new, unified country that we aspire to build will serve the interests of its neighbors and those of the wider international community in promoting global peace and prosperity.
There is a recent precedent for this vision, and thus reason to be hopeful. Some 23 years ago, the geopolitical context that sustained the division of the two Germanys changed radically. Similarly, the day will come when Koreaâs two UN nameplates will be replaced with one.
/END/
Kamil Tchalaev – musicien extraordinaire
At first overwhelmed by Tchalaevâs pupil, a violinist-boy of six steadily and from memory holding his part in a J.S.Bach Invention for two voices, the audience was then treated by Tchalaevâs improvised chant. His voice of five registers, unlike the common three for most humans, was accompanied by the musician himself on the piano and the violin. The musical language of the improvisation would be hard to classify. Dare I say, Classical at its very finest? Contemporary by the incredible mix of global influences – from Bach to Paganini and the French impressionists, Mongolian overtone singing – when one voice sings two voices at the same time, to todayâs music of the Middle East and of the Tibetan monks inspired by todayâs inter-connectedness and inter-dependence of the modern world and by the vast amounts of music assimilated and transformed by the musician himself. Should I think of any other composer creating music on similar basis I cannot help but think of the Malaysian Kee YongChon. Listening to Tchalaevâs transcendental performance I thought of the larger audiences who missed the chance, or at least of the smaller audiences of The Hague certain professionals dealing with the various problems of this vast and complex world. There are clearly solutions in the work of this musician! Simply put, I hope to hear him perform one day in The Hague.
Born into a family of prominent musicians in Moscow (his father Shirvani Tchalaev is the composer of the National Anthem of Dagestan Republic), Kamil Tchalaev is a multifaceted musician: conductor with 25 years of experience, specially as a liturgic conductor at Paris Sinagogue and the Russian Orthodox Church, violinist, cellist, bassist, pianist, singer, composer, musical instrument collector. He worked at Theatre Post Alternatif and the ComĂ©die Française, creating music for the productions of âLe Bal MasquĂ©â by Lermontov (1992), âAmphitryonâ by MoliĂšre in 2002 and “ThĂ©rĂšse philosophe” by Boyer d’Argens at the ThĂ©Ăątre de l’OdĂ©on in 2007. In 2000 he produced the Urban Opera âLes Tours Sonnantesâ and in 2010 founded the Ecole Sauvage based on his collection of musical instruments and sounding objects. Now this collection contains over 300 pieces. At present moment Tchalaev dedicates most of his time to Ecole Sauvage, violin and church music. Alliance Francaise for Diplomats
