India's Independence Day celebrated with fervor in Netherlands

India's 71st Independence Day was celebrated with the hoisting of tricolor at the Ambassador's residence in Wassenaar, Netherlands.

Deputy Mayors of the The Hague Karsten Klein and Rabin Baldewsingh, Theo Henrar- Chairman of Tata Steel Nederland, Eric Niehe former Dutch Ambassador to India, Tanja Jadnanansing former Dutch parliamentarian and Edo de Ronde of Rotterdam Partners attended the flag-hoisting function at the Ambassador's residence in Netherlands and witnessed the largest gathering of 500 people of the Indian diaspora and friends of India on any such occasion.

India and the Netherlands celebrate 70 years of establishing diplomatic relations this year, with the Dutch being amongst the first to establish diplomatic relations with independent India.

The 71st Independence Day celebrations began with Hoisting of the National flag by the Ambassador, singing of the National anthem and reading out of President Ram Nath Kovind's address to the nation. This was followed by a performance of patriotic songs and Bhangra dance.

The event was organized as an open house and efforts were made to reach out to the Dutch society, with special focus on the 200,000 strong Surinamese Hindustani community in the Netherlands. Netherlands has the largest Indian diaspora in mainland Europe.

India and Netherlands ties are warm and friendly, anchored by strong economic and commercial relations which continue to grow.

In the last two years, around US $6 billion worth of investments have come to India from the Netherlands and currently more than 200 Dutch companies are present in India.

India also makes significant investments into the Netherlands, with 220 companies based here and US $3.3 billion worth of investments. Two-way trade between India and the Netherlands stood at US$ 4.81 billion in 2016.