Belgium's King, Queen accorded ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan

ANI  |  New Delhi [India] 

Belgium's Royal Couple, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde on Tuesday received a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan, here.

Belgium's King President Ram Nath Kovind in the presence of Queen Mathilde, Prime Minister Modi and other dignitaries.

Addressing the media at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Belgium's King said, "This (India) is a country we love very much, we have many friends here."

"Been here many times, even came here for our honeymoon. This time we are here for a state visit and we hope to improve very good contacts that already exist because I think in today's globalise there's a lot we can do together," he added.

King Philippe and Queen Mathilde arrived in for a seven-day visit on Sunday.

This is King Philippe's maiden visit to the country following his ascension to the throne in 2013.

"The visit would further strengthen the historical strong ties between the two countries. Belgium was also among the first European countries to establish a diplomatic mission in after Independence," a press release by Ministry of External Affairs stated.

is Belgium's second largest export destination and third largest trade partner outside European Union.

In 2016-17, bilateral trade between the two nations amounted to USD 13.28 billion of which exports from to Belgium accounted for USD 5.65 billion, while imports from Belgium accounted for USD 6.62 billion .

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Tue, November 07 2017. 11:02 IST