From the Hague to Honduras
In this week’s edition, we cover EAM Jaishankar’s visit to the Netherlands, the opening of Tegucigalpa’s embassy in New Delhi, and Germany’s new defence pact with the Philippines.
Credits: Ruben Brekelmans
Garden of Tulips
External Affairs Minister Jaishankar met with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof and Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp this week, where both sides expressed satisfaction with the growing strategic convergence between the two nations. They reviewed cooperation in sectors like trade, science and technology, water, agriculture, health, education, and culture.
He also met Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans to discuss opportunities for advancing defence and security cooperation. Their security ties date back to the 1980s when India procured the Signaal Flycatcher radar system from the Netherlands. These systems were produced under license by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and integrated with India's air defence artillery, an early instance of technology collaboration. While no major agreements have been concluded in recent years, there remains considerable breadth for strategic collaboration and industrial integration.
The Netherlands remains an important trade and investment partner. It is India's largest merchandise export destination in Europe and the third largest globally, with bilateral trade reaching USD 27.333 billion in FY 2023-24. India's exports include petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, organic chemicals, and textiles, while imports comprise electronic components, medical instruments, and machinery. It is also the fourth largest source of FDI into India, after Mauritius, Singapore & USA, with inflows into sectors like chemicals, ports, renewable energy, and e-commerce.
Areas of Growth
Water Management
The Netherlands' expertise in water management has led to joint initiatives in India, focusing on sustainable solutions and flood control. Through their, “Strategic Partnership on Water”, established in 2018, it has engaged with various states and municipalities in India to implement water related projects in UP, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal. The Dutch integrated water systems and deltaic engineering can directly support Indian challenges in urban flooding, for example in Bengaluru, Guwahati and river basin rejuvenation in the Ganges.
Agri-Tech and Food Security
India is aiming to modernise its agricultural supply chains and productivity, while the Netherlands is the world’s second-largest agricultural exporter by value despite limited arable land. Akin to the Dutch-supported Centre of Excellence for Vegetables in Baramati, Maharashtra, there is space to expand these into other regions like Assam and Odisha. There is also potential for joint development of cold storage and logistics using Dutch IoT-based monitoring systems for dairy and horticulture.
Semiconductor and Deep-Tech Cooperation
India’s push for a domestic semiconductor ecosystem under the India Semiconductor Mission could benefit from Dutch leadership in photolithography and microelectronics. This increases the scope for facilitating technology transfers or joint ventures with Indian public-private consortia like the Semiconductor Laboratory or Tata Electronics. Indo-Dutch R&D can be supported via projects between Netherlands-based research institutes like TNO and Indian IITs.
Being one of the early European adopters of an Indo-Pacific strategy, the Netherlands launched its guidelines in 2020, echoing India's vision of a free, open, and rules-based maritime order. This alignment provides a framework for enhanced cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, where both nations can contribute to regional stability and security.
Visit of the Honduran FM to India
During his official visit to India from May 15 to 18, 2025, Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina García engaged in high-level discussions aimed at enhancing bilateral relations between India and Honduras. He attended the inauguration of the Honduran Embassy in New Delhi. The two ministers reviewed the full spectrum of relations, including political cooperation, trade and investment, development partnerships, and cultural exchanges.
Bilateral trade between India and Honduras has seen steady growth, reaching approximately USD 310 million in recent years. India exports pharmaceuticals, textiles, automobiles, and machinery to Honduras, while importing coffee, wood, and leather products. Both countries recognise the potential to expand cooperation in sectors like agriculture, renewable energy, healthcare, information technology, and manufacturing.
Development Cooperation
India has extended several lines of credit to Honduras, including a $26.5 million credit in 2014 for the Jamastran River Valley Irrigation Project. It established an IT Centre in Tegucigalpa in 2008, which trained over 20,000 students before being handed over to the Honduran National Autonomous University in 2011.
In 2024, India approved USD 800,000 under the India-UNDP Fund to support a WASH project in Honduras and donated HADR materials worth USD 200,000 following Tropical Storm Sara. Additionally, 35 Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) training slots were offered for 2024–25, with over 150 Hondurans benefitting from the programme so far.
Areas for Growth
India’s pharmaceutical sector can support Honduras’ healthcare access goals, especially for affordable generic medicines and essential supplies. Honduras’ economy is heavily agriculture-dependent. India can offer capacity-building in agri-extension services, post-harvest processing and cooperative models. Further, inspired by India Stack, it can adopt modular components of India's digital governance architecture for financial inclusion and public service delivery. Finally, given the Central American nation’s vulnerability to hurricanes and floods, India’s disaster response expertise could play a crucial role in capacity building.
Historically modest in scale, the India-Honduras relationship has gained momentum. Their ties are emblematic of India’s expanding footprint in Latin America through development partnerships. The opening of the embassy provides an institutional structure for elevating ties in trade, education, and technical development.
Germany and the Philippines Sign Defence Cooperation Agreement
In an important development for Indo-Pacific security dynamics, Germany and the Philippines signed a formal defense cooperation agreement this month, signalling deepening ties amid rising tensions in the South China Sea. The agreement was signed in Berlin between Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.
The pact focuses on cybersecurity, military logistics, and UN peacekeeping operations. Interestingly, in 2024, two German warships visited the Philippines for the first time in over two decades, following a notable transit through the Taiwan Strait. While most countries view the strait as international waters, China continues to assert full sovereignty over it. In a press conference last year, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning said, "The waters of the Taiwan Strait, from both shores toward the middle of the Strait, are China's internal waters, then territorial sea, then contiguous zone, and then exclusive economic zone."
Recent defence pacts with countries like New Zealand and Canada, along with ongoing negotiations with France for a visiting forces agreement, highlight Manila's proactive approach to enhancing its defence posture. It marks a shift from reliance on traditional allies like the US to a broader, diversified network of security partners.
For Germany, the partnership underlines its commitment to upholding international law, freedom of navigation, and a rules-based order. This agreement also contributes to the emerging European engagement in Indo-Pacific security architecture, reflecting a shared recognition of the need for multilateral defence collaboration in a region facing heightened geopolitical risks.
What We’re Reading and Listening to
[Podcast] In this episode of The Seen and The Unseen, Pranay Kotasthane and Aditya Ramanathan join Amit Varma to discuss what just happened between India and Pakistan
[Blog] Read the latest edition of Tracking ChinaTech, where Shobhankita Reddy breaks down China's latest Guidelines for Generative AI in Education
[Article] Read this Nikkei Asia article on the long path ahead for India's nuclear reforms
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