Rajnath Singh met with the Defence Minister of the Netherlands, Ruben Brekelmans, in New Delhi on March 18. During their meeting, they discussed enhancing bilateral cooperation in several areas, including defence, security, information exchanges, the Indo-Pacific region, and new and emerging technologies. Defence Ministry revealed that India urged the Netherlands to avoid supplying arms, weapon systems, platforms, and military technologies to Pakistan, citing Pakistan’s long history of sponsoring cross-border terrorism.
In the high-level delegation talks, India and the Netherlands agreed to strengthen bilateral ties in key areas such as defence, security, intelligence-sharing, maritime cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, and emerging technologies like AI and drones.
A key takeaway from the meeting was Singh’s firm stance that equipping Pakistan with military hardware “undermines regional security and stability in South Asia,” sources said.
The Netherlands has previously supplied Pakistan with two Alkmaar-class mine countermeasure vessels built at the Van der Giessen-de Noord shipyard in Alblasserdam. Dutch shipbuilder Damen Shipyards has also delivered 1,900-tonne multi-role offshore patrol vessels to Pakistan. “Several Dutch companies are engaging with Pakistan in the military domain, particularly in the naval sector,” another source noted.
The discussions also explored potential collaborations in shipbuilding, defence equipment, and the space sector, leveraging both nations’ technological strengths and industrial capabilities. Both ministers emphasized deeper cooperation in Artificial Intelligence and other advanced technologies and fostering connections between their respective defence research institutions.
Team BharatShakti
