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News18
3 days ago
- Business
- News18
India & Paraguay: Revitalising A South-South Axis
Last Updated: The deepening engagement is not merely transactional; it is deeply interwoven with India's long-standing commitment to leading the Global South The visit of Paraguayan President Santiago Pena to India is a pivotal moment, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi describing it as 'historic". The visit firmly underlines Paraguay as a key partner and an important member in India's Latin American outreach. It is also a crucial element in India's broader strategy to revitalise its South-South cooperation and reinforce its burgeoning leadership role within the Global South. President Santiago Pena's visit to India marks only the second time a Paraguayan President has visited India and the first-such visit in recent decades. The visit is built upon a foundation of trust, with India's support to Paraguay during the Covid-19 pandemic through vaccine supplies. Discussions between the two leaders covered a wide array of sectors, including agriculture, pharmaceuticals, technology, renewable energy, health, critical minerals, railways, and people-to-people contacts. Both leaders want to enhance trade linkages and explore new investment opportunities. PM Modi emphasised that these talks would introduce 'new dimensions" to India-Latin America relations. President Pena's itinerary includes a visit to Mumbai, where he will engage with the state political leadership, business and industry representatives, startups, and tech leaders, and is aimed at broadening bilateral engagement. The focused engagement with Paraguay is indicative of India's wider, strategic pivot towards Latin America. The region is vital for India's economic diversification, particularly as the 'trade weaponisation' era commences. Latin America has already become one of India's most important export markets for automobiles, accounting for nearly half of its motorcycle exports and a quarter of its car exports in 2024. Notably, India now exports more cars to Chile than to the United States, with Peru being the next significant market. It marks a shift in India's global export strategy. Resource security is another critical driver. Latin America supplies approximately 15-20 per cent of India's petroleum imports and provides significant quantities of vegetable oils and agricultural products. Beyond this, the region holds abundant reserves of critical minerals—copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, and rare earths—essential for India's energy transition. Major agreements are in place: Chile's Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, has committed to selling copper concentrates to Kutch Copper, following Chilean President Gabriel Boric's visit to India in April 2025, which also announced a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). Similarly, Brazil's Petrobras is set to supply six million barrels of oil annually to Bharat Petroleum, with plans to increase this to 24 million barrels per year, signifying a crucial diversification of Petrobras's customer base away from its heavy concentration on China. Argentina's state-owned oil company, YPF, has also signed a deal with Indian firms to export up to 10 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) annually, alongside cooperation on lithium and other critical minerals. This deepening engagement is also opening up the Latin American market for Indian companies. Indian automobile and pharmaceutical firms are establishing manufacturing units in Latin America to leverage lower tariffs for exports to the US, capitalising on the US's existing Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with 11 Latin American countries. Tata Consultancy Services already employs 2,000 people in Peru and Chile. It is a significant evolution in the India-Latin America relationship. Leadership in the Global South: A Core Tenet India's outreach to Latin America is linked to its deep-seated commitment to South-South cooperation. India boasts a long and distinguished history of advocating for developing nations, including co-sponsoring the 1955 Bandung Conference and playing a pivotal role in the founding of the 1961 Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which now comprises 120 nations. It was also an inaugural member of the Group of 77 (G-77) in 1964, a key intergovernmental organisation dedicated to fostering South-South collaboration for development. In contemporary global forums, India continues to champion the cause of the Global South. At the 19th G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, PM Modi passionately underscored the challenges faced by these nations, including critical issues such as food, fuel, and fertiliser crises exacerbated by global conflicts. India's leadership played a crucial role in securing permanent G20 membership for the African Union, an initiative that originated during India's own 'Voice of the Global South Summit' in January 2023. India has subsequently hosted multiple such summits, including the third virtual iteration in August 2024, involving dignitaries from 123 countries, embodying the ethos of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, and Sabka Prayas'. President Santiago Pena's historic visit to India serves as a powerful symbol of India's re-energised South-South axis. It concretely demonstrates India's deliberate and strategic shift towards Latin America, a region critical for its economic diversification and resource security. This deepening engagement is not merely transactional; it is deeply interwoven with India's long-standing commitment to leading the Global South, fostering trust, and offering an alternative model of cooperation based on shared aspirations rather than conditionalities. By blending robust economic diplomacy with its principled stance on international collaboration, India is not only securing its future but also actively shaping a more balanced and equitable global order, embodying its pursuit of true 'strategic autonomy." About the Author Sohil Sinha Sohil Sinha is a Sub Editor at News18. He writes on foreign affairs, geopolitics along with domestic policy and infrastructure projects. First Published: June 03, 2025, 10:33 IST News explainers India & Paraguay: Revitalising A South-South Axis
Indian Express
4 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
India, Paraguay vow to boost ties; united against terror: PM
Hosting the first foreign head of state since Operation Sindoor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the visiting President of Paraguay, Santiago Peña Palacios, that the two countries are 'united in the fight against terrorism' and there is immense possibility of cooperation to fight against 'shared challenges' such as cybercrime, organised crime, and drug trafficking. Welcoming President Peña at delegation-level talks, Modi said the Paraguayan leader's first visit to Delhi will add new strength to the pillars of trust, trade, and close cooperation in the relations and will also add new dimensions to India-Latin America relations. Peña, who arrived in Delhi Monday, is on a three-day visit to India to explore ways to expand overall cooperation. It is his first visit to India and only the second trip by a president of the South American country. 'India and Paraguay stand united in the fight against terrorism. There is immense possibility of cooperation to fight against shared challenges such as cybercrime, organised crime, and drug trafficking,' Modi said, describing the two countries as integral parts of Global South with similar 'hopes, aspirations, challenges.' 'We see new opportunities for cooperation in areas such as digital technology, critical minerals, energy, agriculture, healthcare, defence, railways, space and overall economic partnership,' he said. Briefing reporters, P Kumaran, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said: 'This visit comes soon after the barbaric terrorist attack in Pahalgam, J&K. PM Modi expressed his deep appreciation to Paraguay for its strong condemnation of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, as well as for the sincere condolences and solidarity expressed with the people and the Government of India… On behalf of the Paraguayan people, President Peña expressed his deep solidarity with the victims and families of the terrorist attack.' Kumaran said the two sides welcomed the establishment of a joint commission mechanism (JCM) at the Secretary / Vice-Ministerial level, which will serve as 'a key platform to review and advance cooperation in priority areas of mutual interest.' The PM also referred to New Delhi's preferential trade arrangement with South American trading bloc MERCOSUR, comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. 'We can work together to further expand it,' the PM said. On defence cooperation, Kumaran said while Paraguay's priorities are different to those of India, the 'logic driving their acquisition of defence hardware' is mainly law enforcement. He said one of the points discussed in the talks was 'AgriStack'. 'As a large agricultural country, the use of digital platforms to make agriculture more efficient… is of great interest to the Paraguayan side,' Kumaran said. Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 25 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting on foreign affairs for more than 17 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism '2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury's special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban's capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read More
