India can benefit from Netherlands' experience in cleaning up Ganga: Book

Citing challenges being faced by the world due to climate change, a recent book by a seasoned diplomat suggests that India can benefit from the Netherlands' expertise in its efforts to clean up the Ganga and other major rivers.

Technologies and expertise which have made the Netherlands a success story in agricultural productivity, logistics, food processing, and exports can bring prosperity to India's farmers and entrepreneurs, it said.

"The international community must work together and address global problems in a spirit of cooperation. Freedom, democracy, multiculturalism, and pluralism must flourish. India and the Netherlands must stand shoulder to shoulder and make this dream a reality. It might be a marathon race. If anyone can win the race, it will be these two countries," said the book.

The Indian government is implementing an ambitious programme to clean the river Ganga that flows through several North Indian states.

The book -- "India and the Netherlands: Past, Present and Future" -- by India's Ambassador to the Netherlands Venu Rajamony, chronicles obvious convergence of economic interest between the two countries.

As India engages in strenuous efforts to speed up growth and address its social and developmental challenges, there are few countries as ideal as the Netherlands to partner its endeavours, Rajamony said.

"Dutch strengths are exactly in the areas where India has its largest needs water, agriculture, and the maritime sector. India can benefit from Dutch expertise in its efforts to clean up the Ganges and other major rivers," he said.

Rajamony, however, said there is little room for complacency.

"Periodic infusion of new energy, vision and persistent efforts will bring exponential results. Common interests must be expanded with determination and mutual familiarity enhanced with vigour. The two nations must get to know each other much better and coming closer together must become a priority for both," he said.

India and the Netherlands must rediscover their past, celebrate the present, and, strengthen ties in every field in the future, Rajamony suggested.

"They must pay even greater attention to one another and support as well as learn from each other. A brave, new world in which peace and prosperity prevails, where economic progress is attained in a sustainable manner, with full protection for individual human rights, is possible and must be achieved," he said.

The book calls upon the international community to work together and address global problems in a spirit of cooperation.

"Freedom, democracy, multiculturalism, and pluralism must flourish. India and the Netherlands must stand shoulder to shoulder and make this dream a reality. It might be a marathon race. If anyone can win the race, it will be these two countries," it said.

Rajamony's book -- an encyclopaedia of the cross-cultural legacy between India and the Netherlands -- highlights the significant place India occupied in the Dutch world view and the relationship between the two nations secured by strong economic ties and vibrant exchanges in the fields of culture, sports, and yoga.

It presents vivid snapshots of relations between the two nations over centuries and brings to life the compelling personalities whose contributions shaped the Indo-Dutch discourse.

The 251-page book reminds that India and the Netherlands share a cultural and intellectual resilience, which has outlasted the challenges of change.

The book says that the international situation resembles the Dutch weather a storm can blow anytime without warning.

"The world is going through challenging times. Due to climate change, countries across the world are experiencing extremes in weather. The Netherlands, which has dealt with an excess of water throughout history, is now having to also deal with water shortages.

"India remains at the mercy of fickle monsoons. While one part of the country is deluged with abnormally heavy rains and floods, another reels under excessive heat and drought," it says.

Dutch King Willem-Alexander has heaped praise on the Indian ambassador for his book which was released last month.