HE Ms Marisa Gerards is the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to India, Nepal and Bhutan. She has started working in this role as of August 2023 and is based in the city of New Delhi. Ambassador Gerards presented her credentials to the President of India on 21 August 2023.
Prior to her current assignment, she was the Director General at the Ministry of Defence in the Netherlands after having served for 4 years as Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to NATO. From 2014 till 2018 Marisa was accredited as Ambassador to South Africa (Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswathini).
Ms Gerards was born in Amsterdam and has pursued her education at the University of Amsterdam in European Studies. In her diplomatic career of three decades, she has served in various capacities in various countries and at various Ministries and Institutions, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Environment, The Hague.
She is married to Mr. Peter Knoope who serves as an associate fellow of the Clingendael Institute for International Relations and is the founder of the ICCT - The Hague.