Investment and Iran deal key issues during Dutch PM’s visit to India

Smita Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 19

In a bid to boost ties with India, the Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte will be on a two-day official visit to the country on May 24 and 25.

Rutte’s visit comes after his re-election as the PM last year and follows PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the Netherlands in June 2017.

Significant political exchange is expected between the two sides on the US pullout from the Iran nuclear deal which the ally European Union (EU), that the Netherlands is a part of, condemned strongly in its meeting this week.

Rutte called Trump’s unilateral action “clumsy” and reportedly said, “As Europe, we have a major role in the world, but Europe will need to develop more self-confidence to pursue that role. You can see that now with Iran. We want to try and keep the deal in place as much as possible.”

India is studying implications of the American pullout of the 2015 agreement and secondary sanctions it could face for the ongoing projects with Tehran, including the Chabahar port.

The visit also comes close on the heels of the Modi-Putin informal summit in Sochi next week. Over the alleged use of chemical gas by Kremlin to assassinate two Russians in Salisbury, the Netherlands expelled Moscow’s ambassador in solidarity with the UK while India asked for fair investigation into the case at the meeting of OPCW (Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) in The Hague.

Accompanied by Ministers for Agriculture, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Infrastructure and Water Management, and Medical Care, Rutte’s visit will focus on investment and partnerships in the Modi government’s flagship projects, including smart cities. “This is a multi-sector comprehensive approach to stepping up relations with India in a major way. Our bilateral relations have never been better. Efforts are on by both sides to give it a huge impetus,” said Venu Rajamony, India’s Ambassador to the Netherlands speaking to The Tribune from The Hague.

Interestingly, the Tata Group Chairman will interact separately with Rutte where the issue of US tariffs on steel imports leading to possibility of flooding of EU markets is likely to figure.

As many as 231 business delegates representing 130 companies are part of the Trade Mission accompanying Rutte. The India-Dutch CEOs’ forum will also be held in Delhi. Rutte will also visit Bengaluru’s ISRO campus. The Netherlands is home to a 2,35,000-strong Indian diaspora, the largest in mainland Europe.