Register

Overview

Despite similarities in terms of nature and objectives, the relations between India and Latin America did not achieve its full potential due to a variety of reasons. India’s tendency to remain boxed within the neighbourhood and Latin America’s myriad of socio-economic problems remained as a constant reminder of perpetual challenges. Added to it the distance, logistical impediments and a general lack of awareness placed an otherwise thriving relationship in the backburner.

That should however not entail that no attempts were made to create a fruitful relationship. Both the regions are complementary in nature as India’s economic growth will see a significant requirement for energy and food which may be obtained from Latin America, complementarily the latter will require India’s skill and expertise in managing its resources and attaining a higher degree of self-sufficiency.

India can play a big role in helping Latin America reduce their dependence on China by diversifying the supply chain and exploiting regional forums like QUAD and the Pacific Alliance. Over the years, India's ties with Latin America have expanded beyond trade and investment to cooperation in areas such as energy, knowledge sharing as well as in multilateral fora such as G-20, BRICS and IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa).

India enjoys a Preferential Trade Agreement with MERCOSUR and also enjoys Observer member status in Pacific Alliance group. India's exports to Latin America have grown at a robust rate. Indian pharmaceuticals, automobiles, textiles, chemicals, machinery and other value added products have found dedicated customers all over the region. India’s total export with the various countries of Americas region stood at US$ 82.44 billion whereas total import from the region stood at US$ 58.05 billion during the year 2023-2024 (Apr-Jan).

Objective

India has become a major trading partner of many countries in the region. It has also sought to engage the countries of the region- on a bilateral and multilateral basis - with a view to expanding these economic links. The year 2022 saw the opening of two new missions in the Latin America and Caribbean Region (LAC) – Paraguay and Dominican Republic. These missions in the region are expected to further enhance India’s presence as well as open new markets for companies and further improve exports of goods and services. The smaller countries in the region are looking to India for building up its infrastructure, security solutions to deal with illegal immigration and crimes, best practices in the space sector, health, education, renewable energy and much more.