India - Netherlands

3-Apr-2023: 1st Ministerial-Level Meeting of India - Netherlands Joint Working Group Held In New Delhi

The 1st Ministerial-level meeting of the Joint Working Group between India and the Netherlands was held today in New Delhi in the august presence of the Union Minister for Jal Shakti Mr. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and the Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, Government of Netherlands, Mr. Mark Harbers. In April 2021 during a virtual meeting between the Prime Ministers of India and the Netherlands ‘Strategic Water Partnership’ was launched. On 29th March 2022, the ‘Strategic Water Partnership’ was signed by Mr. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister for Jal Shakti and Mr. Mark Harbers, Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management. The Partnership provides the necessary impetus to expand the bilateral water cooperation and is a joint effort of Indian and Netherlands Governments, recognizing the importance of Sustainable Development Goals, water safety, water availability and water quality for wellbeing and sustainable development of the present and future generations.

In his opening remarks, the Union Minister for Jal Shakti Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat welcomed the guests and said that during the virtual summit between the Prime Ministers of India and the Netherlands in April 2021, the two leaders had a detailed review of the entire spectrum of bilateral relationship and agreed on instituting a ‘Strategic Partnership on Water’ to further deepen the Indo-Dutch cooperation in the water sector. He said that the cooperation was enhanced by the decision to upgrade the Joint Working Group (JWG) on water to the Ministerial-level. The Netherlands is engaged with various States and Municipalities including in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi Gujarat, Punjab, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra in various water resources project. “I am happy to note that both the groups – the Joint Working Group and the Bilateral Technical Group have been able to narrow down to the few areas of intervention under the collaboration which are industrial pollution abatement through multi-stakeholder platform for pollution prevention and effective waste management of textile cluster in Panipat, Haryana, Water as Leverage and Namami Gange, Water as Leverage in Chennai, Room for River Project – Flood Management project with Kerala, Pilot project in the doab of Arnair and Koratalair river and capacity development programmes,” the Union Minister said.

Mr. Shekhawat added that the Indo-Dutch cooperation has progressed on various front since the signing of the ‘Strategic Water Partnership’. “Along with these collaborations, we also thank the Netherlands government for supporting some submission made at the United Nations Water Conference 2023 in New York that includes River-Cities Alliance for river sensitive cities and technologically-driven nature-based solutions for river rejuvenation,” the Minister added. Shri Shekhawat expressed satisfaction over the fact that multi-stakeholder consultative approach is being adopted which has helped in developing comprehensive plans for the water sector. He said that it is now time to act on the plans quickly.

Mr. Mark Harbers expressed his happiness on the fact that India and the Netherlands are contributing constructively to the Water Action Agenda and said that water is a key enabler for prosperity, equality and sustainability. “We need to prepare and cooperate globally to address the emerging climate and environmental challenges,” he said, adding, “The challenges of both our countries such as spatial and temporal variations in rainfall, pollution etc. are similar and the basis of our coming together are these shared challenges.”

The extensive list of activities started in recent years between India and the Netherlands exemplifies that we have come together through the ‘Strategic Water Partnership’. “I wish a very interesting, constructive and productive 1st Ministerial-level Joint Working Group meeting,” Mr. Harbers said, adding that a strong cooperation is imperative to find proper solutions to the similar climate and environmental issues staring at the world.

Both the Ministers showed optimism towards the results presented under the interventions in the industrial pollution abatement project through multi-stakeholder platform for textile cluster in Panipat, Haryana.

Welcoming the delegations, Shri G. Asok Kumar gave a brief overview and journey of the India-Netherlands cooperation in the water sector and called the 1st Ministerial-level meeting of the Joint Working Group the “culmination” of the efforts started with the visit of Dutch Prime Minister Mr. Mark Rutte to India in 2015 followed by the visit of the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi to the Netherlands in June 2017 to mark the 70th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship between India and the Netherlands. “The visit provided a significant boost to the bilateral ties and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Ministry of Water Resources, India & Ministry of Infrastructure & Environment of Netherlands in June 2017 to strengthen the collaboration between the two countries in the field of water, delta management and water technology.

Joint Secretary (EW), Ministry of External Affairs, Mr. Sandeep Chakravorty while making intervention desired that the activities under the framework may also be carried to other geographical areas including Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia and Africa.

The work plan of the Joint Working Group includes three Action Plans on bilateral water cooperation with: 1. Ministry of Jal Shakti in particular National Mission for Clean Ganga, Ministry of Irrigation, Kerala and Ministry of Irrigation and Waterways, West Bengal.

Action Plan Jal Shakti/NMCG – The Netherlands consists of five program areas including Sustainable water quality management, Urban water management, Monitoring and decision making, Living with and valuing of water, Resilient water systems and Sustainable Water Quality Management. This program area will support the efforts of NMCG and other governmental organizations in India to improve the water quality of the water systems. It will cover water quality issues in a river basin, e.g. Ganga basin, and might also cover knowledge needs of state governments and other institutions involved in water quality management. Urban water management will bring together the on-going activities of the River Cities Alliance (RCA) in India and the Water as Leverage (WaL) program initiated by the Netherlands. The core objective of RCA is to provide the member cities with a platform to discuss and exchange information on aspects that are vital for sustainable management of urban rivers.

Under the Monitoring and Decision making program, efforts will be made to make proper use of the data, collected at different levels, available in India. Some of this data is made public, other data is classified or kept for internal use only. The challenge is use this hydrological data for decision making, investments or operational purposes.

Living with and valuing water component relates to the Aviral Ganga (Unrestricted Flow) and Arth Ganga (economy and livelihood) components of Namami Ganga. Aviral Ganga and Arth Ganga in India are based on the same principles as several concepts in the Netherlands such as Living with Water and Building with Nature. Resilient water systems is oriented at achieving water security at local and basin level and making the water systems resilient to cope with variable conditions.

Action Plan Kerala – The Netherlands will focus on knowledge exchange and capacity building. Related to river basement management knowledge exchange will be on Integrated Water Resource Management. 1. Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) - Materialize IWRM concept in Kerala; - Address the challenges in integrated river basin management; - Mitigation of urban flooding and sharing institutional mechanisms; - Utilize Nature Based Solutions, such as ‘Room for the River’ and ‘Living with Water’.

Action West Bengal – The Netherlands action plan is divided in two periods: 1. Exploratory phase (2022 – 2023) of Capacity building to be conversant with dike design and construction as per state-of-the-art international good practices, an outline for holistic master plan, including a strategy towards a healthy river basin; basic understanding of coastal zone management.

The aim of the Strategic Water Partnership is to further intensify and expand on-going bilateral cooperation through involving policy experts, academia, knowledge institutes, private companies and communities/stakeholders and combining resources, expertise, knowledge skills. The Partnership adds strategic direction to the cooperation in order to maximize the benefits for both countries. The character of the Strategic Water Partnership is knowledge cooperation in which each partner will finance its own expenses arising from the cooperation. Knowledge exchange will mainly take place by interaction between Indian and Netherlands experts and officials.

3-Apr-2023: 1st Ministerial-Level Meeting of India - Netherlands Joint Working Group Held In New Delhi

2021

20-Aug-2021: Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh says, Trinity of Health, Agriculture and Water are bedrock of Science and Technology Collaboration between India and Netherlands

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today emphasised Indo-Dutch collaboration in health and agriculture, which are the priority areas of the government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that since the trinity of Health, Agriculture and Water has been, for many years, the bedrock of close mutual collaboration between India and Netherlands, the Indo-Dutch collaboration could be evolved into a model for others to follow.

The Minister was speaking to a delegation from the Netherlands, led by Ambassador Marten van den Berg, who called on him to discuss and review bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the field of Science and Technology and Innovation.

Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India Professor K. Vijay Raghavan, Secretary DST Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary DBT Dr Renu Swarup, DG CSIR & Secretary DSIR Dr Shekhar Mande, S.K Varshney Head International DST, Dr Ujjwala Tirkey International Division DST, Dr Rama Bansal Head International CSIR and other senior officers of the Ministry took part in the meeting.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that scientific technology will determine the status and contours of future Global Economy and India is poised to play a leading role in the comity of nations. He said, India is emerging as a huge Investment Destination and called upon the private sector also to seize this opportunity for furthering ties in all walks of life as both the countries enjoy deep historic and cultural ties.

Dr Jitendra Singh welcomed the Dutch proposal to work together in the area of Green Hydrogen and said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address on 15th August, the 75th Independence Day of India, announced the “National Hydrogen Mission” to make India a Global Hub for Green Hydrogen Production and Export. Similarly, Smart Energy Grids, Functional Materials, Big Data and IOT have been supported for joint research and development, he added.

Referring to Ambassador Marten vanden Berg’s proposal for collaboration in Ocean Resources, the Minister informed that recently Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, approved the proposal of Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) on "Deep Ocean Mission", with a view to explore deep ocean for resources and develop deep-sea technologies for sustainable use of ocean resources with an estimated cost of Rs. 4077 crores.

Dr Jitendra Singh also invited Netherlands for fruitful exchanges in the Space sector particularly in the wake of path-breaking reforms initiated by India in the recent past allowing the private sector to have a level playing field in satellite launches and space based activities. The Minister said that Collaboration in Innovations must enhance our scientific economy as our challenges and priorities are similar.

Ambassador Marten vanden Berg in his address flagged future collaboration in Solar Energy, Gas-based installations, Cyber Security, Data Science, Urban Water System and emerging areas, which will create jobs for people in India. He said, Institutional frameworks for cooperation are already in place, and now there is a need to work effectively on ground.

Ambassador Berg also highlighted Climate Change as a key area of concern for the entire World and said both India and Netherlands can work in areas like Carbon capture through Public-Private Partnership mode. He also underlined the need to address societal challenges through Science and Technology.

Collaboration in Sports Science is another area flagged off by both sides. Ambassador Berg mentioned that Dutch Coach Sjoerd Marijne played an important role in renaissance of India's women's hockey team.

9-Apr-2021: India-Netherlands Virtual Summit

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and H.E Mr. Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands held a Virtual Summit today. It was the first high level Summit attended by PM Rutte after the general elections held in March 2021. Prime Minister Modi congratulated PM Rutte on his election victory and on becoming the Prime Minister of the Netherlands for the fourth consecutive term.

India and the Netherlands have a strong and steady relationship, nurtured by the shared values of democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights and the historic bonds of friendship between the two countries.

During the Summit, the two leaders had a detailed review of the entire spectrum of bilateral engagements and exchanged views on further expanding and diversifying the relationship in trade and economy, water management, agriculture sector, smart cities, science & technology, healthcare and space.

The two Prime Ministers also agreed on instituting a ‘Strategic Partnership on Water’ to further deepen the Indo-Dutch cooperation in the water related sector, and upgrading the Joint Working Group on water to Ministerial-level.

The leaders also exchanged views on regional and global challenges such as climate change, counter-terrorism and Covid-19 pandemic and agreed to leverage the emerging convergences in new areas like Indo-Pacific, Resilient Supply Chains and Global Digital Governance.

Prime Minister Modi thanked the Netherlands for their support to International Solar Alliance (ISA) and Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI). PM Modi also welcomed the Netherlands’ Indo-Pacific Policy and its desire to collaborate during India’s G20 Presidency in 2023.

The two leaders reiterated their commitment to a rules-based multilateral order for ensuring international peace, stability and prosperity and looked forward to a successful India-EU Leaders’ Meeting in Porto, Portugal in May 2021.

8-Apr-2021: India-Netherlands Virtual Summit

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will hold a Virtual Summit with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte on 9 April 2021.

The forthcoming Summit follows the recent victory of Prime Minister Rutte in the parliamentary elections and will sustain the momentum in the bilateral relationship provided by regular high-level interactions. During the Summit, the two leaders will discuss in detail our bilateral cooperation and look at new ways of strengthening the relationship. They will also exchange views on the regional and global issues of mutual interest.

India and the Netherlands share cordial and friendly relations underpinned by shared values of democracy, rule of law and freedom. Netherlands is home to the largest Indian diaspora in continental Europe. Both countries have wide ranging cooperation including in areas of water management, agriculture and food processing, healthcare, smart cities and urban mobility, science & technology, renewable energy and space. The two countries also share a robust economic partnership with the Netherlands being the third largest investor in India. There are over 200 Dutch companies present in India with a similar presence of Indian businesses in the Netherlands.

2020

30-Sep-2020: NITI Aayog and Embassy of the Netherlands sign Statement of Intent on ‘Decarbonization and Energy Transition Agenda’

NITI Aayog and Embassy of the Netherlands, New Delhi, signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) on 28 September 2020 to support the decarbonization and energy transition agenda for accommodating cleaner and more energy.

The SoI was signed by NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and Ambassador of the Netherlands to India Marten van den Berg. Through this collaboration, NITI Aayog and the Dutch Embassy seek a strategic partnership to create a platform that enables a comprehensive collaboration among stakeholders and influencers, including policymakers, industry bodies, OEMs, private enterprises, and sector experts.

The focus of the partnership is on co-creating innovative technological solutions by leveraging the expertise of the two entities. This will be achieved through an exchange of knowledge and collaborative activities. Key elements include i) lowering the net carbon footprint in industrial and transport sectors ii) realise the target potential of natural gas and promote bio-energy technologies iii) adopt clean air technologies from monitoring to reducing actual particulates iv) adopt next-generation technologies, such as hydrogen, carbon capture utilization, and storage for sectoral energy efficiency v) financial frameworks to deliver and adopt climate change finance.

Speaking during the event, Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, said, ‘Both India and the Netherlands have ambitious sustainable energy targets and face similar issues in realizing cleaner energy transition goals. I am sure India’s expertise in deploying high-tech solutions in a cost-effective manner, combined with Dutch expertise in low carbon technologies, will further solidify Indo-Dutch collaboration, and we will successfully work towards achieving the decarbonization and energy transition agenda.’

Marten van den Berg, Ambassador of the Netherlands to India, said, ‘As both India and the Netherlands continue to transform their energy sector, we are committed that initiatives under this SoI will help both the countries to move towards becoming climate-resilient economies. Working with India is also important to meet its twin objectives—generating economic growth and ensuring it safeguards the environment for future generations. In the field of energy, there is a huge room for cooperation between the two countries, as we both have ambitious sustainable targets. This SoI will encourage more collaboration. It will not only boost the economies of the two nations but also achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.’

Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, said, ‘We are committed to reduce emissions’ intensity by 33%–35% by 2030. With the focus on carbon intensity of products sold across the world, low carbon industrialization is the next huge opportunity for India. Apart from the ongoing emphasis on renewable energy, India stands committed on the rapid adoption of electric vehicles. Given the enormous potential the partnership holds, the thematic areas within the broad topic of energy transition and climate change, the partnership with the Netherlands in the spirit and action, will help both the countries derive natural synergies to achieve sustainable development goals.’

Dr Rakesh Sarwal, Additional Secretary, NITI Aayog, said, ‘Clean energy is critical for achieving sustainable development and is at the forefront of the global agenda. The co-operation between the two countries can solve a range of challenges in obtaining, adapting and effectively using technologies for sustainable development, not to mention in building productive capacity.’

The Netherlands and India share a long history of trade and investment. It is India’s sixth largest EU trading partner—as much as 20% of India’s exports to the European continent goes through the Netherlands, making it India’s ‘gateway to Europe’—and one of the top five investors in the country. It is also the third largest source of Foreign Direct Investment for India.

The Netherlands is keen to intensify its business relations with India to emerge as the country’s hub for doing business with Europe. Both the countries complement each other and by working together can combine forces to find new solutions to shape the future and tackle societal challenges, especially in the energy and climate sectors.

2017

22-Jun-2017: Cabinet approves Amendment of the Social Security Agreement between India and the Netherlands

The Union Cabinet has approved Amendment of the bilateral Social Security Agreement (SSA) between India and the Netherlands by incorporating the “Country of Residence” Principle into the said SSA.

The amended SSA between India and the Netherlands, when operational from the third month from the date of notifying the said Amendment to the Netherlands by India, will strengthen the ties between the two countries, and continue to favourably impact the profitability and competitive position of Indian and Dutch companies with foreign operations in either country by reducing their cost of doing business abroad. The SSA will also help promote more investment flows between the two countries.

The SSA has been in successful operation since June 2010 and has benefitted Indian expatriates who have been working in the Netherlands.
Beginning 1st January 2013, the Netherlands introduced new rules on export of social security benefits to countries outside the European Union.
Under the new Social Security (Country of Residence) Act, the amount of benefit or allowance paid to a qualified beneficiary (read as Dutch national) is adjusted to the cost of living of the country where the beneficiary is currently residing.
As per the new Dutch legislation, social security benefits when exported or remitted would be indexed to the cost of living of the host country (as reflected in the World Bank figures), where the Dutch citizen resides.
The new Dutch legislation, in ordinary circumstances, has no implications for the Indian worker working in the Netherlands because it is applicable only to Dutch nationals residing outside the EU except for a very few exceptional cases. The Indian posted workers would largely continue to get benefits as per the existing India-Netherlands Social Security Agreement.
However, the circumstances where the "country of residence" principle will apply to a few instances of Indian nationals include the following:
1. An Indian worker who dies in the Netherlands and has his/her spouse and children living in India.
2. An Indian worker who gets disabled while working in the Netherlands and returns to India.

After the adoption of the new social security legislation, the Netherlands side requested that India agree to revise the bilateral SSA since such a revision would be necessary as per the national legislation of the Netherlands.

The existing SSA now stands amended to the extent of the above change.

A bilateral Social Security Agreement, (SSA) was signed between India and the Netherlands on 22nd October 2009 and came into force on 15th June 2010. The SSA allows exemption from double contribution to the social security system in both jurisdictions, exportability of accumulated social security benefits across jurisdictions (applicable even to the self-employed), and totalization of serving periods.

Beginning 1st January 2013, a new social security legislation came into force in the Netherlands, consequent to which the Netherlands began to apply the "country of residence" principle on certain social security benefits exported to other countries. The principle sought, is to bring in equity in exportability of social benefits to the class of Dutch citizens who reside outside the Netherlands.

As on date, India has signed and operationalized SSAs with 18 countries – Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and South Korea.