In a bid to boost ties, India and Netherlands signed 51 agreements in various sectors following the bilateral talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Netherlands counterpart Mark Rutte on Thursday. During their wide-ranging and “constructive” discussions on regional and international issues, the two leaders also reiterated their commitment to fight terrorism.

“The leaders agreed that terrorist and extremist organisations need to be denied space to radicalise, recruit, and conduct attacks on innocent people.

They deplored the violence caused by Al Qaeda, Daesh/ISIS, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Tayabba, and their affiliates as well as terrorist groups threatening peace and security in South Asia and Europe,” the joint statement released after the talks said.

Modi and Rutte also agreed to hold a bilateral cyber dialogue in 2018 to discuss issues pertaining to internet governance, data protection, cyber security policy and Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) cooperation. Already, Hyderabad Security Cluster is collaborating with Hague Security Delta in the cyber security field.

With Dutch companies keen to explore the Indian market and be part of ‘Make in India’ programme, in the defense sector, the two countries are in the process of finalising the text on the Agreement on Mutual Protection of Classified Information in the field of Defence.

In his media statement, Modi thanked Rutte for backing India at various forums. “From UN Security Council to Multilateral Export Control Regimes, India and The Netherlands have very close coordination and cooperation,” PM said. He also welcomed The Netherlands as a new member of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) saying the entire world is likely to benefit from the expertise of the country in this field.

Rutte said there was a huge scope for the two countries to deepen cooperation in areas of trade and investment, clean energy, agriculture and smart cities. Rutte was accompanied by the a huge delegation comprising of Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality; Minister for Healthcare and Sport; Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, the mayor of the city of The Hague and a large trade mission. India and the Netherlands have a bilateral trade of $5.39 billion with Dutch being the fifth largest investor in India with a cumulative investment of $23 billion from 2000 to December 2017.

“The leaders called for expansion of ongoing collaboration in the fields of agriculture and food processing, water, technology, smart city development, cyber space, health care, clean energy and finance,” the joint statement said.

During the discussions on cooperation in agriculture sector, the Indian side welcomed the Dutch desire in boosting productivity of apples, manufacturing food processing equipments, breeding high-yielding vegetable seeds, providing capacity building and training to dairy farmers, cooperating in the areas of bovine genetics and food safety, and supporting sustainable and climate resilient agriculture to mitigate water shortages and end the practice of stubble burning. India invited Netherlands to explore the feasibility of assisting in setting up Food Valleys and invest in cold chain and food processing facilities and undertake capacity building programs in India.

Apart from pacts on agriculture, health, education, water management, ports and waterways, sanitation, smart cities and business, investment promotion, the two sides also signed a Memorandum of Understanding for training of diplomats.

Courtesy: The Pioneer, Friday, 25 May 2018 | Vineeta Pandey | New Delhi