KOCHI: God’s Own Country accorded a warm reception to King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands who arrived in Kochi for a two-day visit. The Royal couple arrived at Cochin International Airport at 2pm. Kerala Governor Mohammed Arif Khan and Education Minister C Raveendranath welcomed them at CIAL. The king and queen were all smiles as they saw kathakali and theyyam artists who accompanied the official team.
The king was seen sharing some light moments with the Kathakali artists before leaving to Mattanchery by road. Later, in the afternoon, the king and queen visited the Dutch Palace at Mattanchery. Minister Kadannappally Ramachandran and Mayor Soumini Jain welcomed the guests at the palace.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) to promote international cooperation and exchange of knowledge by sharing digitised antique documents were also signed between the state Archives Department and National Archives of the Netherlands at the Dutch Palace. The King and Queen witnessed the signing of document by Kerala Archives director J Rejikumar and Dutch National Archives director D G Marens. King Willem-Alexander later said, “The journey of India and the Netherlands along the path of co-operation will continue.”