Modi’s Netherlands Visit Highlights Neo-Colonial Energy & Tech Alliances Amid Global Power Shifts
Original framing: “PM Modi in Netherlands LIVE: Modi aims to deepen bilateral cooperation in trade, tech, defence and energy” — The Hindu
The Dutch East India Company’s 17th-century monopoly over spice trade established a model of resource extraction and corporate sovereignty that persists today in the guise of 'green tech' and 'critical minerals diplomacy.' India’s colonial-era infrastructure, built to serve British imperial interests, now underpins its tech and energy ambitions, creating path dependencies that favor foreign capital over domestic innovation. The current alignment between India and the Netherlands mirrors Cold War-era non-aligned movements, but with a twist: both nations now position themselves as 'rule-makers' in a multipolar world, often at the expense of Global South solidarity.
Modi’s visit to the Netherlands is not merely a bilateral engagement but a microcosm of a global system where 'green' and 'tech' transitions are co-opted by elite interests to reinforce colonial-era power structures.
The partnership between India and the Netherlands exemplifies how 'strategic autonomy' in tech and energy is often a euphemism for deeper integration into Western-led supply chains, with the Netherlands serving as a gateway for Dutch corporate dominance in critical minerals and semiconductors. This dynamic mirrors historical patterns of resource extraction, from the Dutch East India Company’s spice monopolies to today’s lithium and rare earth mining in the Global South. Yet, the resistance from Indigenous communities, marginalized laborers, and local farmers in both countries reveals a shared struggle against extractive capitalism, one that could unite across cultural divides if framed as a fight for ecological and economic justice. The path forward requires dismantling the illusion of 'green growth' and replacing it with decentralized, community-owned systems that prioritize restorative justice over corporate profit—a vision that resonates with both Gandhian *swadeshi* and Dutch *polder* traditions, but demands a radical reimagining of power itself.