On 20 January 2006, the Prime Minister of The Netherlands, H.E. Dr. Mr. Jan Peter Balkenende visited JNU as part of his state visit to India and delivered a lecture on The European Union and India: Unity in Diversity. On this occasion he also announced a gift of EURO 50,000 to the Centre for European Studies to set up a library and state of the art lecture cum seminar room. Named after the famous Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), the Rembrandt Room houses the library called the Erasmus Collection. The Erasmus collection is named after Desiderius Erasmus (1466 or 1469 - 1536), a Dutch Renaissance humanist. With over 500 books on the shelves, the students and faculty of the Centre for European Studies will have access to the Erasmus collection which focuses on Contemporary Europe and issues of international politics, thereby enhancing both the teaching and research quality.
The Netherlands Prime Minister's Grant is coordinated by Professor Ummu Salma Bava, Professor for European Studies in the Centre for European Studies and Associate Fellow, Asia Society, New York.