Netherlands-India relations

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2025

A

March 19, 2025: The Times of India

New Delhi : India asked the Netherlands to not provide arms, weapon systems, platforms and military technologies to Pakistan, which has sponsored cross-border terrorism for decades, in a meeting between defence minister Rajnath Singh and his counterpart Ruben Brekelmans.


In the delegation-level meet, the two countries decided to elevate their bilateral ties in areas including defence, security, information exchanges, maritime cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, and new and emerging technologies like AI and drones.


The clear takeaway, however, was Singh telling Brekelmans that “equipping” Pakistan with defence equipment and technologies “undermines regional security and stability” in South Asia, sources told TOI.
 “Singh said India has been fighting Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in J&K and elsewhere for decades. India tells all friendly countries that they should not arm Pakistan in any way due to its state policy of fueling terrorism in other countries,” a source added.


The Netherlands, for instance, has supplied two Alkmaar-class mine countermeasures vessels or minehunters, which were built at the Van der Giessen-de Noord shipyard in Alblasserdam. Similarly, the country is also providing 1,900-tonne multi-role offshore patrol vessels from the Damen Shipyards to Pakistan. “Several Dutch companies are interacting with Pakistan in the military arena, especially in the naval domain,” another source said.


In the India-Netherlands meet on Tuesday, the two sides also explored the possibilities of collaboration in shipbuilding, equipment and space sectors, “optimising the complementariness in skills, technology and scale of the two countries”.


“They also discussed working together in domains like AI and related technologies, besides connecting the defence technology research institutes and organizations of the two countries,” a defence ministry official said. India also said Dutch armament companies should be encouraged to integrate Indian vendors into their supply chains.

B: dual-use technologies

Sachin Parashar, March 19, 2025: The Times of India

New Delhi : One of the global leaders in the semiconductor industry, which is also looking to ramp up its presence in the Indo-Pacific, the Netherlands wants to integrate its defence industry with India with collaboration in dual-use technologies like drones, AI and semiconductors. Dutch defence minister Ruben Brekelmans told TOI in an exclusive interview that the two countries are looking to upgrade their ties to the level of a strategic partnership and it’s important to have a strong defence and security pillar to base it on.


Brekelmans said that the Netherlands, one of the principal backers of Kyiv in Europe, seeks robust security guarantees for Ukraine to blunt Russia’s “imperial ambitions” and to prevent a return to the 19th century.


“Both have strong maritime sectors and there’s more we could do on this. There are also some dual use technologies, for example in drones, AI, semiconductors where there’s a lot of innovation in the Netherlands, also in India. It’d be interesting to look for synergies. India very often doesn’t just have knowledge but also the scale to produce in large numbers. That’s what we need right now. We need to ramp up our defence industries and if there’s also capacity from the Indian side, it can be important,’’ said the minister, before his meeting with counterpart Rajnath Singh this week. 
The Netherlands had imposed restrictions on export of chip equipment in 2023, apparently under pressure from the Biden administration that wanted to curb supplies to China.


Asked about the IndoPacific, where the Netherlands was one of the first European countries to have its own policy, Brekelmans said the Dutch intend to have maritime exercise every two years in the region.


“So, we often have one of our frigates visiting multiple countries, India being one of the important ones of course. We also do air exercises to show indeed that we share the same values and principles,’’ he said.