The 12th India-Netherlands Foreign Office Consultations were held in The Hague, Netherlands yesterday. The Indian delegation was led by Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs, Pavan Kapoor. The Dutch delegation was led by Secretary General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Paul Huijts. The last Foreign Office Consultations took place in New Delhi in December 2022.

The Foreign Office Consultations provided an opportunity to review progress in bilateral relations and discuss future agenda of cooperation. Both sides welcomed the progress in all areas and deliberated on the way forward in priority sectors of Water, Agriculture and Health, Science and Technology, and High-tech and Innovation. They underscored their interest to raise the level of ambition and agreed to further strengthen bilateral relations, by focusing on new emerging technologies like semiconductors and green hydrogen. The two sides appreciated the robust and fast-growing economic ties and noted the importance of holding the inaugural meeting of the Fast Track Mechanism for Indian companies in the Netherlands as an important step towards further enhancing B2B relations. They also appreciated the presence of a large Indian community in the Netherlands, which forms an important link and is contributing positively to the local economy and expanding cultural ties.