• Your Excellency Mr. Wopke Hoekstra, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Netherlands
• Mr. Bart Siemerink, Director of Keukenhof
• Mr. Jan de wit
• Friends of India,
• Ladies and Gentlemen,
Namaste! Goeden avond
1. It is my pleasure to be in the Netherlands. I have undertaken this State Visit on the special occasion of 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between our two countries.
2. I am very happy to be at the Keukenhof, the garden of Europe and home to the world-famous tulips. The garden attracts millions of visitors each year and heralds the spring in the Netherlands. It showcases the Dutch expertise in horticulture which makes it as the world’s largest producer and exporter of tulips.
3. Today, a new flower will bloom for India-Netherlands relations. We are naming the tulip flower as ‘Maitri’ which in Sanskrit means friendship. I sincerely thank the Government of the Netherlands for this unique gesture and also wish to appreciate the efforts of the breeders of this beautiful new Tulip variant. It will inspire us to work towards strengthening bonds of friendship and ties between people of India and the Netherlands.
Thank you all.