NSA Doval discusses Ukraine war and its fallout with his Dutch counterpart

During the meeting, NSA Ajit Doval and his Dutch counterpart discussed the recent geopolitical events in their respective regions. Both the officials underlined the importance of India and The Netherlands to remain engaged on these issues and intensify their contacts.

Published on: Mar 31, 2022, 15:11:57 IST

By Shishir Gupta

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National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Thursday met Geoffrey Van Leeuwen, the security and foreign policy advisor to the Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte in New Delhi.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval with his Dutch counterpart Geoffrey Van Leeuwen in New Delhi on Thursday.

Both the top security advisors had intense discussions on wide range of bilateral issues and global developments including the situation in Ukraine.

During the meeting, NSA Doval and his Dutch counterpart discussed the recent geopolitical events in their respective regions. Both the officials underlined the importance of India and The Netherlands to remain engaged on these issues and intensify their contacts, including through policy dialogues on issues of mutual interest.

The two also agreed to strengthen further the partnership between the two countries by expanding ongoing defense, security and counter- terrorism cooperation. They agreed to stay in close touch.

At the peak of the Ukraine war, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had spoken to his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte over the situation in Ukraine. He had briefed the Dutch premier about the evacuation carried out to rescue the Indians and also about India's humanitarian relief to the war-hit country.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations between India and the Netherlands. President Ram Nath Kovind is embarking on a state visit to The Netherlands from April 4 to 7 on the invitation of the king and queen of the country.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shishir Gupta
Shishir Gupta is Executive Editor at Hindustan Times and one of India's top journalists covering national security, strategic affairs, foreign policy and geopolitics. Over the past three decades, he has extensively reported on India's military, diplomatic and security landscape, covering every major conflict and national security challenge, from the 1999 Kargil War and the 2020 East Ladakh standoff to Operation Sindoor in 2025. He has also covered major terror attacks, including the IC-814 hijacking, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and the 2025 Pahalgam terror strike, along with numerous Pakistan-backed terrorist incidents in the Kashmir Valley and across India. He has reported on national and state elections for more than three decades. A recognised authority on strategic affairs, Gupta has covered India's nuclear programme since the Pokhran-II (Shakti series) tests in May 1998 and has written extensively on global nuclear issues, Indian diplomacy and the country's expanding global outreach. He has also reported widely on international conflicts and terrorism, with a special focus on the Indian subcontinent. Gupta has interviewed Prime Minister Narendra Modi more than four times, including Modi's first interview with the print media after becoming Prime Minister in May 2014. His other interviews include three with the Dalai Lama, as well as conversations with Benjamin Netanyahu, Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath, S. Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal. He is the author of Indian Mujahideen: The Enemy Within (Hachette, 2011) and Himalayan Face-off: Chinese Assertion and Indian Riposte (Hachette, 2014). He was awarded the Chevening-Wolfson Joint Scholarship at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, UK, in 1998 and participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) of the US State Department in 2006. He received the Ben Gurion Prize from Israel in 2011 and the K. Subrahmanyam Prize for Strategic Studies in 2015 from the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA). Since 2024, he has hosted Point Blank, Hindustan Times' weekly YouTube show on global geopolitics.Read More