India, Netherlands sign agreements to boost tourism
India and the Netherlands have signed two agreements in the fields of culture, trade and economy aimed at giving a boost to the bilateral relations between the nations. The agreements were signed in the presence of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during their meeting recently.
The two sides signed the agreements on cultural cooperation following discussions between Queen Beatrix and Dr. Singh. The first agreement was signed between the Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni and the Netherlands Foreign Minister J.M. Verhagen and the second by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations Director-General, Pavan Verma, and the Chairman of the Stichting Amsterdam-India Festival, Simon Reinink.
The Queen, visiting India after 21 years, also met Vice-President Hamid Ansari and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani. She is accompanied by Prince of Orange Willem-Alexander, his spouse Princess Maxima, Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen, besides a high-level business delegation.
Recently, the Queen met Rajendra Pachauri, head of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change, which won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Queen had an interaction with Dr. Pachauri during her visit to the Tata Energy Research Institute.