NEW DELHI: One of the global leaders in the semiconductor industry, which is also looking to ramp up its presence in the Indo-Pacific, the Netherlands wants to integrate its defence industry with India with collaboration in dual use technologies like drones, AI and semiconductors. Dutch defence minister Ruben Brekelmans told TOI in an exclusive interview that the 2 countries are looking to upgrade their ties to the level of a strategic partnership and it’s important to have a strong defence and security pillar to base it on.
Brekelmans said that the Netherlands, one of the principal backers of Kyiv in Europe, seeks robust security guarantees for Ukraine to blunt Russia’s “imperial ambitions” and to prevent a return to the 19th century.
“Both have strong maritime sectors and there’s more we could do on this. There are also some dual-use technologies, for example in drones, AI, semiconductors where there’s a lot of innovation in the Netherlands, also in India. It’d be interesting to look for synergies. India very often doesn’t just have knowledge but also the scale to produce in large numbers. That’s what we need right now. We need to ramp up our defence industries and if there’s also capacity from the Indian side, it can be important,’’ said the minister, before his meeting with counterpart Rajnath Singh this week. The Netherlands had imposed restrictions on the export of chip equipment in 2023, apparently under pressure from the Biden administration that wanted to curb supplies to China.
Asked about the Indo-Pacific, where the Netherlands was one of the first European countries to have its own policy, Brekelmans said the Dutch intend to have maritime exercise every 2 years in the region. “So, we often have one of our frigates visiting multiple countries, India being one of the important ones of course. We also do air exercises, with our F-35s, to show indeed that we share the same values and principles. We have more people to people contacts with India and others, more military attaches to strengthen cooperation,’’ he said.
On the threat to the transatlantic alliance from US President Donald Trump’s policies, Brekelmans said he had heard from his counterpart Pete Hegseth that Nato is more relevant today than ever and backed Trump’s call for Europe to spend more on defence. He, however, said the policy of reciprocal tariffs would hurt all.
“There can be some tactical moves by the US to push allies and friends to do certain things and that’s fine. But it’s important that we remain close friends at the strategic level. It’s positive that the US has stressed multiple times that Nato is important. If there are some strategic decisions made by the US, for example to promote focus on Asia, it’s always better to do that together than make any unilateral move,’’ he said.
With the Netherlands having committed military aid worth 10 billion euros to Ukraine, Brekelmans said there must be enough military power to ensure any peace deal is durable. “A peace deal should not lay the ground for future Russian aggression. Not just in Ukraine, but also other parts of Europe. It’s also important to have credible deterrence at other Nato borders. We have had 80 years of peace and we want another 80 years of the same,’’ said the minister.