Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the Netherlands on Saturday for the second leg of a five-nation European and Middle Eastern tour driven by the escalating conflict in West Asia and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which have severely strained global energy supply chains. Modi is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten to expand cooperation in semiconductor manufacturing, green hydrogen, and defense.
The arrival in Amsterdam follows a brief stopover in Abu Dhabi, where Modi secured a strategic petroleum reserve agreement to store up to 30 million barrels of crude oil in India. During his meeting with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the two nations finalized an LPG supply pact, a ship repair cluster in Gujarat, and a $5 billion infrastructure investment package involving RBL Bank and Samman Capital.
The Federation of Indian Export Organisations stated that over $70 billion in collective bilateral trade is at stake during this trip, according to a report by Aaj Tak detailing the diplomatic schedule, which coincides with the ongoing implementation of the India-EU Free Trade Agreement. The Netherlands is currently the largest European Union investor in India, holding $55.6 billion in cumulative foreign direct investment.
While in The Hague, Modi will meet with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima and address the Indian diaspora, including the 200,000-strong Surinamese-Hindustani community. Following his Dutch engagements, Modi will travel to Sweden and Norway to participate in the third India-Nordic Summit in Oslo. The tour concludes in Rome with a standalone bilateral meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.