G20 New Delhi declaration a compromise, but happy that India was able to broker it, says Dutch PM in Bengaluru

Bengaluru, September 11

Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte on Monday said the G20 New Delhi declaration was clearly a compromise, which is always the case with such a multilateral forum, but he was happy with the fact that there were some key elements in it, and that India was able to broker it.

Rutte, who participated in the G20 summit hosted by India in New Delhi on September 9 and 10, visited Bengaluru as part of an economic mission.

“It was a compromise clearly, and that’s always the case when you come together with multilateral teams like the G20. But I was happy with the fact that there were some key elements in the declaration, which were important. But obviously if I would have written it myself, it would have been different, but I wasn’t the only one; we were with a whole bunch of people. And it is good that India was able to broker a declaration,” Rutte said.

He was responding to a question by reporters on whether he was happy with the New Delhi declaration, specifically the paragraphs on Ukraine, or whether he thinks it is a compromise, during an informal press meet.

Rutte also stressed on the need to elevate the India-Netherlands relationship to a more strategic level and not only on the economic side.

“Yesterday I had a meeting with the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi). We know each other very well, we discussed how to basically elevate our relationship to a more strategic level and not only on the economic side, but also clearly on the security side…this is clearly a broad-based relationship,” he said.

Saying that India is going through a rapid development and will be the third biggest economy in four or five years, he added, “That being said, we really are very proud to be part of that journey.”

During his visit to Bengaluru, the Netherlands Prime Minister met Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Ministers MB Patil and Priyank Kharge, and top government officials.

Speaking about his meeting with representatives of the Karnataka government, Rutte said the state is as big as Germany in terms of population, and the administration is being practical and action-oriented here.

During the Bengaluru visit, Rutte also held discussions with Indian companies engaged in business with the Netherlands, and participated in a roundtable discussion with Dutch companies operating in Karnataka, Consulate officials said.

Asked about investment proposals and sectors, he said, “One of the things of course we are discussing with the central government is how we can have this whole semiconductor industry here in Bengaluru. We have (Netherlands-headquartered) NXP for example.”