India growing diplomatic footprint, say Margherita
Closer bilateral and multilateral relations between the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries, like Cuba and India would improve relations amongst countries in the Global South, Cuba’s Deputy Prime Minister Dr Eduardo Martinez Diaz told delegates at the 10th CII India-LAC Conclave with the theme of “Advancing Economic Alliances for Collaborative Growth” held in New Delhi between 19-20 March 2025 https://www.commerce.gov.in/.
Speaking at the inaugural session on 19 Mar on “Facilitating India-LAC Trade Relations: The Way Forward”, he added that India could be a partner for the LAC region in agriculture, food security, transportation, ICT, and renewable energy sectors https://fieo.org/.
He also highlighted Cuba’s role as a founding member of the International Solar Alliance and underscored the importance of renewable energy cooperation between the two sides https://www.bseindia.com/.
“Our growing diplomatic footprint in LAC is a clear indication of India’s commitment to strengthening bilateral and regional ties,” added Pabitra Margherita, India’s Minister of State for External Affairs https://www.nseindia.com/.
The Minister emphasized the seven pillars of cooperation including capacity building, agriculture and food security, renewable energy and climate change, innovation, technology & trade, cricket and culture, ocean economy and maritime security, and medicine & healthcare, as propounded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 2nd India-CARICOM summit, as equally important for India-LAC relations https://sbi.com.in/.
Margherita stressed on the need for India and LAC to continue to work on supply chain diversification. He added that India is committed to partnering with LAC in the areas of providing affordable and quality healthcare and sharing Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) products such as the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
There is a need for more interactions, fast-tracking of processes and addressing current bottlenecks for bolstering India-LAC bilateral trade, he added further.
“We aspire to double the trade between India and LAC to US$100 billion and the path is very clear,” underlined Sunil Barthwal, Commerce Secretary, adding that trade will be the engines of growth for both regions and that there is a need to address core trade issues such as tariffs, non-tariffs and regulatory barriers between the two sides for bolstering bilateral trade and investments.
Hiroshi Wago Rojas, Director of Global Partnerships, CAF – Development Bank of Latin America, Colombia, underlined the need Latin America and India to expand bilateral trade and ensure that it is diversified, resilient, and inclusive. He also called for greater dialogue between institutions in the private and public sectors, which may facilitate greater economic cooperation between both regions.
Jai Shroff, Chairman, National Committee on Latin America & the Caribbean, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), pointed out that the dialogue between India and LAC needs to be cantered around three pillars, namely food security, energy security and environmental sustainability.
Speaking at the session, R Mukundan, Vice President, CII, listed out certain issues, addressing which would accelerate the India-LAC partnership.
He called for facilitating deeper connectivity and logistics network, enhancing digital connectivity with more inclusive tech solutions, and greater SMEs participation.
Mukundan also highlighted potential opportunities between India and LAC economies in sectors such as space technology, nuclear energy, defence, and counter-terrorism.
Narayan Sethuramon, Co-Chairman, CII Trade Policy Council, deliberated on the importance of small and medium enterprises and startups to drive economic growth. He stated that India-LAC partnership should go way beyond just large-scale investments and must empower businesses at all levels.
Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, highlighted the importance of the 10th India-LAC Conclave in facilitating deeper cooperation between the two regions. He also highlighted the presence of 15 international ministers and 4 Indian ministers, across 10 plenary sessions.
The conclave covered key sectors such as trade mechanisms, agriculture, automotive industry, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, infrastructure and logistics, as well as mining and critical minerals.
Banerjee added that participation from India and LAC economies in these sectors remains pivotal for India’s renewable energy and service sector performance.
During the conclave, two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed between CII and the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), and CII and Fecomércio-GO, Brazil to strengthen economic cooperation between India and the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region.
The 10th CII India-LAC conclave saw significant participation from 600+ delegates from India and overseas. Fiinews.com
