“India a remarkable country” Dutch envoy



The warmth with which he greets you makes one feel as if he has known you for long. The smile he wears is real and not the usual diplomatic one. He is one of those diplomats who find India enchanting and enjoys it wherever he travels. Though he has been in India only for a year now, he is deeply impressed by the country. Mr. Bob Hiensch, Ambassador of the Netherlands, talks to THE BLUE MOON Editor, Amit Mittal about the encouraging growth in the number of travellers between the two countries.

“There has been a quantum leap in the number of Indian travelers going to the Netherlands, the figure jumping 25 % in the first nine months of 2008 compared to the corresponding period in the previous year. Even more encouraging is the growth shooting to 65 % over the last four years,” says a beaming Mr. Bob Hiensch. “Indians are the third largest community, about 180000, in the Netherlands and they have never been any problem. Most of them came to Surinam many years ago from the Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh of today and settled down there. After the independence of Surinam they came over to the Netherlands. They speak ‘bhojpuri’ and dutch well. They have integrated in to the Dutch society so well that they never appear as not being a part of it, “Mr. Hiensch points out.

The Ambassadors brought out books written by Surinam Indian authors to prove his point. He feels the two countries have always come closer by way of cultural exchanges. “Recently the Indian flute maestro Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia was conferred Knighthood by the Queen of Netherlands. In the Amsterdam-India Festival held last year the number of visitors was well above the expected mark. About 90,000 Dutch people visited the Festival. And it was remarkable that this figure had a substantial number of young people. In the concerts by Indian artistes it was indeed satisfying to see young Dutch people taking interest,” said Mr. Hiensch. “The Festival,” he said, “was a success and its outcome is being followed up. He pointed out that there were a number of Indian restaurants in Holland and said, “We hope more vegetarian restaurants will open up.

Asked about visa restrictions and problems faced by Indian travelers, Mr. Hiensch said, “Within the Schengen system, we are flexible and quite efficient. Normally a visa in India is granted within 48 hours. At the VFS outlets in India, every 17 minutes there is a visa application being processed. Genuine travelers do not face any problems as far as grant of visa is concerned. There are three different categories of travelers going to Holland --- the ones who are going as tourists, others who travel on business and yet others who are going to other destinations and pass through the country. We want that those who are traveling on business or passing through the country should also take a break in Holland to see the country.”

Mr. Hiensch said, “The Netherlands extends an ‘Orange Carpet’ welcome to business visitors. Orange because that is our national color. Under this Orange Carpet Visa Facility all those doing business with the Netherlands will get special facilitation in obtaining a visa. Frequent business travelers could get visas for longer period of time.” The Dutch Ambassador is of the view that people traveling from India have not created a problem of overstaying in Holland. About the business between the two countries, the Ambassador said, “It has been a big success story. Holland is the fourth largest investor in India today. There are big household names in India like Uni-lever, Philips and Shell from Holland. We are even in the banking and finance sector in India today, like ABN-AMRO, Rabo, ING.” The Ambassador also recalled the success of the Netherlands India Business Meet of last year which was attended by P. Chidambaram showing that Indian government attached significance to the meet. He said that a Minister from the Netherlands would deliver the keynote address on Dutch Design (as that is one of the target cultural sectors) at the business summit being organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in coming February in Pune. Asked why many countries have issued advisories against travel to India post terrorist attacks in Mumbai as it is harming the inbound tourism in this country, Mr. Hiensch said, “It is my first responsibility to ensure the safety of Dutch nationals. We are well aware of the advisories. We must give top priority to security. But we are careful in promulgating and monitoring the advisory. This kind of an attack can take place anywhere in the world. So everybody was shocked after the attacks.” “I had a group of friends who wanted to visit India and they did come. India has that resilience which I appreciate,” Said Mr. Hiensch. “It is a remarkable country which has 14 climate zones, everything from beaches to snow clad mountains,” added the Ambassador. Asked about the problems faced by Dutch tourists coming to India, Mr. Hiensch said,” They come to India as it is a fascinating country. They come with a positive attitude. Minor problems may occur like lack of infrastructure and hygiene.”

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