Dutch PM Mark Rutte touches down India to strengthen economic and mutual cooperation

New Delhi, May 24: Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte touched down the capital today kicking off his two days of India visit. The visit looks forward to strengthening economic and mutual cooperation. 

In a tweet, Spokesperson for External Affairs Ministry, Raveesh Kumar, said that “Excellent relations marked by strong economic and commercial ties! Prime Minister of Netherlands, Mark Rutte was warmly welcomed by Union Minister of Food Processing Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal on arrival. Later @MinPres Rutte will meet PM @narendramodi.”

 

Today, PM Mark Rutte is also set to hold the talks with PM Modi. Several agreements are expected to be signed after the talks. Both Prime Ministers will also address the India-Dutch CEOs forum in New Delhi.

PM Rutte will be accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Minister for Infrastructure and Water Management and Minister for Medical Care. PM Rutte will meet a Business Delegation at Hotel Taj Diplomatic and then participate in the Clean Ganga Event at Hotel ITC Maurya.

Apart from the official program in Delhi, the visiting dignitary will go to Bengaluru to visit the ISRO campus among other activities. Netherlands Prime Minister's visit comes within a year of PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the Netherlands last June.

India and the Netherlands have a bilateral trade of 5.39 billion dollars. The Netherlands is the 5th largest investor in India. It is also home to a 2 lakh 35 thousand strong Indian diaspora, the largest in mainland Europe.