India and Netherlands signed four agreements on the sidelines of President Ram Nath Kovind’s state visit to the Netherlands, Minister of External Affairs (MEA) Secretary (West), Sanjay Verma informed on Wednesday. Addressing a special briefing here, Verma said the India-Netherland partnership is significant, not just in content but also in terms of the pace and momentum generated by periodic meetings between the leadership of the two countries.

“Indian President has visited the Netherlands after 34 years. There were four agreements signed on the sidelines of the visit. First is the Extension of MoU on bilateral cooperation in the field of Ports, Maritime Transport, and Logistics,” he said.

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“2nd is Extension of MoU with State Archives Department, Kerala and National Archives of Netherlands on the execution of Shared Cultural Heritage; third is MoU for Cosmos Malabaricus Project between Leiden University and Kerala Council of Historical Research and National Archives of Netherlands,” Verma added.

The fourth is the Extension of the Programme of Cooperation between the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, Government of Netherlands.

President Kovind and First Lady Savita Kovind are on a visit to the Kingdom of Netherlands from April 4-7.
The President was accompanied by Loganathan Murugan, Minister of State in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and Dilip Ghosh, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha).

The maiden visit of the President of India to the Netherlands marked an important milestone as India and the Netherlands celebrate 75 years of diplomatic relations this year. It is also the first Head of State visit from India to the Netherlands in more than three decades.

The Ministry of External Affairs, in a statement, said India and the Netherlands enjoy long-standing friendly and multi-faceted relations with a broad agenda of cooperation marked by shared values of democracy, rule of law, and growing convergences on global and regional issues.

“The State visit of the President, which took place as both India and the Netherlands celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties, reflected and reiterated the commitment to further deepen the relationship for the mutual benefit of both peoples,” the MEA added.