India's 69th R-Day observed in Netherlands

Patriotic fervour gripped Indians in the Netherlands as they proudly marked the country's 69th Republic Day on Friday.

Over 300 people gathered at the Ambassador of India to the Netherlands Venu Rajamony's residence in Wassenaar this morning for a flag hoisting function.

The celebrations began with the hoisting of the Tricolour by the Ambassador, singing of the National anthem and reading of President Ram Nath Kovind's address to the nation. This was followed by a performance of patriotic songs.

The event was attended by Deputy Mayor of The Hague Rabin Baldewsingh, Judge Dalveer Bhandari of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Ambassador of Iran to the Netherlands Prof. Dr Alireza Jahangiri and various prominent members of the Indian community residing in the Netherlands.

The flag-hoisting function witnessed a large gathering of the Indian diaspora, especially members of the Surinamese Hindustani community and friends of India that came together to celebrate this significant day in the Indian history.

The Netherlands has the largest population of overseas Indians in mainland Europe, the majority belonging to the 2,00,000 strong Surinamese Hindustani community whose ancestors were taken as indentured labour from India to Suriname 145 years ago.

India and Netherlands have shared friendly diplomatic relations for more than 70 years with the Dutch being amongst the first to establish diplomatic relations with independent India.

The two nations share strong bilateral relations, with the Netherlands being described as a "natural partner" in India's economic development by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Recently at the World Economic Forum (WEF) held in Davos, Prime Minister Modi met Queen Maxima of the Netherlands in her capacity as the UN Secretary-General's Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA).