Cyber security to top agenda during Hague Mayor’s India visit

India and the Netherlands are all set to bolster their relations by enhancing cooperation in cyber security. With increasing concerns arising about cyber security, the two countries aim to foster closer cooperation and exchange of knowledge between The Hague and Indian government organisations, industry and research institutions.

A Dutch delegation led by the Mayor of The Hague, Jozias van Aartsen will visit India from October 13-17. The delegation is expected to pitch The Hague’s position as an International City of Peace and Justice besides taking part in the India Conference on Cyber Security and Cyber Governance (CYFY) 2015. The delegation comprises The Hague Municipality, companies and knowledge institutes.

“We shall be happy to join forces with companies, knowledge institutes and government bodies in dealing with the growing challenges in the domain of cyber security, besides offering input for the legal and regulatory framework,” Mr Aartsen said.

The Hague delegation will present the Dutch approach to cyber security consisting of close cooperation between government, business and science to combat cyber-crime apart from aspects such as privacy, technical and legal questions, which are central to the theme. The delegation will meet with representatives of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), a government-mandated information technology (IT) security organisation, Cyber Security Education and Research Centre in Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Data Security Council, Ernst and Young and Nasscom.

The delegation is scheduled to visit Hyderabad after the meetings in Delhi. A visit to Tech-Mahindra (which has operations in the city of The Hague) to learn about their Integrated Engineering in the field of Digital Practice and Internet is a part of the agenda to strengthen cyber security cooperation between the two countries.

The Hague is the third largest city in the Netherlands and with a population of approximately 2.7 million, it is the 12^th largest in the European Union and the most populous in the country. “There is a huge population of People of Indian Origin (PIO) in The Hague and already more than 10 Indian companies are based here, of which Tech Mahindra and HCL Technologies are the largest. All are playing a significant role in developing bilateral economic and trade cooperation in various fields,” Mr Aartsen further said.

In terms of trade and investment, India has strong economic interests in the Netherlands, which is at present the fifth largest investor of FDI in India and is the 29th largest trading partner globally and the fifth largest trading partner in the European Union after Germany, Belgium, France and Italy. Two-way trade has continued to grow steadily and stood at 6.38 billion Euros in 2012 with a positive balance of trade in favour of India. The Netherlands is home to a 235,000 strong Indian diaspora.

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