New Delhi, Oct 24 : Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, who is on a four-day visit to India, was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan today.

The Queen, on the first such visit in 21 years, met with President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh besides other top leaders.

The two sides are expected to explore ways to strengthen bilateral ties, particularly in the sectors of trade and economy.

The bilateral trade between the two countries amounts to nearly 2.28 billion dollars and business houses in both countries are looking at doubling this in the next five years.

Queen Beatrix is accompanied by Prince of Orange William-Alexander, his spouse Princess Maxima, Netherlands Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen, besides a high-level business delegation of top company executives.

The visit is important for India since it will give the nation's leadership the opportunity to brief the Dutch about the Indo-US nuclear deal.

India is expecting the Netherlands to support them as a Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) member.

The Queen's last state visit to India was in 1986, but she spent her millennium-eve holidays in Rajasthan with her family on a private visit.(ANI)