Seeking deeper economic engagement with the latin American countries, External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has invited the latin American and Caribbean countries to participate in the initiatives of the Government like Make in India, Digital India, Skill India, Smart Cities project and Clean Ganga Mission.
“All these provide opportunities for your countries to partner us. As we go along, these schemes could also provide good learning for developing countries from India’s experience,” Swaraj said at India-latin American countries conclave here that was attended by envoys of Costa Rica, Uruguay, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico and Nicaragua.
Urging these countries to utilise the full potential of economic engagement the Minister said “Our trade with the latin American and Caribbean region has shown impressive growth in the recent past and today stands at about $46 billion. Considering the fact that our trade was only 2 billion dollars in 2000, this marks a phenomenal growth in our bilateral trade with the region. We have Preferential Trade Agreement with MERCOSUR and with Chile. Our investment is estimated to be around 20 billion dollars, principally in IT sector, automobile parts, mining and hydrocarbons. While the figures I have quoted may seem impressive, I firmly believe that the level of trade and investment between India and lAC countries is not commensurate with the potential that exists.”
She said while on one side latin American region offers a market for Indian products such as pharmaceuticals, leather, automobile parts, engineering goods, textile, Information Technology among others, it on the other hand, offers oil and gas, minerals and metals, cereals, pulses, oil seeds, soya, fresh fruits and many other products for Indians.
“It is clear that our economies complement each other. We must find ways to fully utilise the opportunities that exist between us as a result of these complementarities. Geographical distance should not be a barrier in this. especially in the age of globalisation and new technology,” she added.
Swaraj also raised issues of terrorism, climate change and reform of the UN Security Council. On terrorism, she sought their support for the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism at the UN. On climate change, she said India has already announced its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) on climate change and “we hope that a comprehensive, balanced and equitable agreement will be reached at COP-21 in Paris later this year”. On reform of the UN Security Council, she said expansion of the UNSC in both the permanent and non-permanent categories is imperative.