Embassy of India

(Buenos Aires)

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India-Argentina Bilateral Relations

POLITICAL RELATIONS

India-Argentina relations are cordial and encompass political, economic, scientific and technological and cultural cooperation. India opened a Trade Commission in Buenos Aires in 1943, which was later converted into one of the first Embassies of India in South America in 1949. Argentina had established a Consulate in Calcutta in the 1920s, which was transferred to Delhi as an Embassy in 1950. Argentina opened a Consulate General in Mumbai in April 2009. Dr. Sergio Lais-Suárez has been appointed Honorary Consul General of India in the Argentine province of Córdoba in September 2009.

Bilateral interactions

2.         The Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi met the President of Argentina Mr. Mauricio Macri on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa on 26 July 2018, the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany on 7 July 2017 and the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, China on 5 September 2016. External Affairs Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj met Foreign Minister of Argentina Mr. Jorge Faurie, on 21 September 2017, on the sidelines of the 72^nd session of the UN General Assembly in New York. Minister for Commerce and Industry,Shri Suresh Prabhu, led 30-member Indian delegation to the XIth   Ministerial Conference of WTO held in Buenos Aires from 10-13 December 2017. During the visit, Shri Suresh Prabhu called on President of Argentina and also met the Argentine Foreign Minister Mr.Jorge Faurie. , Minister of State for Finance, Shri Pon Radhakrishnan, Deputy Governor of RBI, Shri M.P Kanungo participated in the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting held in Buenos Aires from 17-20 March 2018. Minister of State for Tourism, Shri KJ Alphons visited Buenos Aires to attend the G20 Tourism Ministers Meeting from 15-17 April 2018.  Minister of State for External Affairs, Gen (Dr.) Vijay Kumar Singh (Retd) visited Buenos Aires to participate in G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting from 19-22 May 2018. During the visit, he called on the President Mr. Mauricio Macri and also met the Argentine Foreign Minister, Mr. Jorge Faurie. Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, led the Indian delegation in the G20 Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting in Salta, Argentina from 23 - 24 August 2018. Minister of Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation of India, Shri Suresh Prabhu, visited Buenos Aires to participate in the G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting from 14-17 September 2018 and also met the Argentine Foreign Minister, Mr. Jorge Faurie, on 14 September 2018 on the sidelines of the Meeting. Supreme Court Justice, Mr. Sharad Arvind Bobde visited Argentina to participate in J20, Judicial Conference of the Presidents and Judges of G20 from 10-11 October 2018. A 5-member Parliamentary delegation led by Speaker Lok Sabha Smt. Sumitra Mahajan, visited Buenos Aires to participate in the Parliamentary Forum and Speakers’ Summit of G20 Countries from 30 October-2 November.

3.         Former Minister of State for External Affairs Shri M. J. Akbar met then Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina, Ms. Susana Malcorra, on the sidelines of the Meeting of Ministers of G-20 Countries in Bonn in February 2017. The two Ministers also met on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Vienna in December 2016. Former Commerce and Industry Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman met the then Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina Ms. Susana Malcorra on the sidelines of the WTO  Ministerial meeting in Oslo, Norway on 22 October 2016.

4.         Minister of State (IC) for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Shri Mansukh L. Mandaviya, visited Argentina and held discussions with Argentine authorities, Chambers of Commerce, etc from 16-17 April 2017 and an Agreement of Cooperation between Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET) and School of Engineering- Buenos Aires was signed on 17 April 2017. Minister for Women and Child Development, Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi and Minister of State (IC) for Labour and Employment, Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar, participated in the IV Global Conference on Sustained Eradication of Child Labour in Buenos Aires from 14-16 November 2017. A 4-member Parliamentary delegation comprising Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, MP Lok Sabha, Shri Kirit Somaiya MP Lok Sabha, Shri Swapan Das Gupta, MP Rajya Sabha and Shri Abhijit Kumar, Additional Secretary, Lok Sabha Secretariat participated in the Parliamentary Conference on WTO in Buenos Aires from 9-10 December 2017. The conference was jointly organized by the Inter- Parliamentary Union, the European Parliament, and the Argentine Parliament was held.  A 12-member agricultural delegation, led by the Agriculture Minister of Haryana, Shri O.P Dhankar visited Argentina from 22-25 April 2018. Minister of State (Agriculture), Shri Parushottam Rupala led the Indian delegation for the G20 Agricultural Ministers meeting from 27- 28 July 2018 in Buenos Aires. The Indian delegations led by Minister of State (IC) for Labour and Employment, Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar, and Minister of State for Human Resource Development,Shri Satya Pal Singh, participated in the G20 Education and Employment Ministers meeting in Mendoza from 3 - 6 September 2018.

5.         A five-member Indian delegation led by Secretary Telecom, Ms. Aruna Sundararajan, attended the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC) held in Buenos Aires from 9-13 October, 2017. A seven- member delegation including representatives from the Ministries of External Affairs, Home Affairs and Department of Economic Affairs participated in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary and working group meeting held in Buenos Aires from 30 October- 3 November 2017.

6.         A delegation led by Indian Sherpa for G20 2018, Shri Shashikant Das, Ministry of Finance attended the first G20 Sherpa Meeting in Bariloche, from 14-16 December 2017and the second Sherpa Meeting in Ushuaia from 2-4 May 2018. The Acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Ms.Gita Mittal and Judge of Delhi High Court, Ms. Hima Kohli participated in the 14^th biennial Conference of International Association of Women Judges in Buenos Aires from 2-6 May 2018. Secretary Economic Affairs, Mr. Subhash Chandra Garg, participated in the third meeting of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, in Buenos Aires from 21-22 July 2018.

Other Visits:

Important Visits from Argentina to India:

2009     Ms. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President

2013     Mr. Héctor Timmerman, Foreign Minister

2013     Mr. Francisco Perez, Governor of Province of Mendoza

2014     Mr. Antonio Bonfatti, Governor of Province of Santa Fe

2014     Dr Lino Barañao, Minister of Science and Technology

2014     Mr. Claudio Poggi, Governor of Province of San Luis

2014     Mr. Carlos Bianco, Deputy Foreign Minister

2015     Mr. Eduardo Zuain, Vice Foreign Minister

2015     Mr. Jorge Mayoral, Secretary, Mining

2016     Mr. Gustavo Canteros, Vice Governor of the Province of Corrientes

Important Visits from India to Argentina:

2010     Smt. Preneet Kaur, Minister of State, MEA

2013     Shri Salman Khurshid, Minister of External Affairs

2014     Shri Dinkar Khullar, Secretary (West), MEA

2014     Shri Santosh Gangwar, Minister of State (IC), Textiles

2014     Justice Swatantra Kumar, Chief of National Green Tribunal

Bilateral Agreements:

Technical Co-operation and Training

7.         India extends thirty five (35), Indian Technical and Economic Co-operation (ITEC) scholarships to working professionals from Argentina every year. In 2017-18, India offered 45 ITEC scholarships to Argentina of which 39 were availed. An Argentine diplomat attended the 64^th Professional Course for Foreign Diplomats (PCFD) conducted by the Foreign Service Institute, MEA from 27 September-28 October 2017.

8.         A technical delegation comprising officials from MEA, and CDAC visited Argentina and Uruguay to discuss the modalities for establishment of the IT Centre of Excellence in Information Technology (CEIT), in Argentina. They held discussions with the National Director (International Cooperation), Ministry of Education, Argentina and senior officials of the National Institute of Education Technologies (INET).  INET has been assigned as the nodal agency for the purpose of CEIT. 

Support in Multilateral Fora

9.         India and Argentina have supported each other on major international issues as well as each other´s candidatures to various UN and multilateral bodies. India has always extended support to Argentina on the sovereignty issue of Malvinas Islands and, earlier on the issue of sovereign debt servicing and holdout creditors.

ECONOMIC AND COMMERCIAL RELATIONS

Bilateral Trade (US $ million):

 (Source: MERCOSURonline)

India´s Exports to Argentina

10.       Major items of exports include motor cars and other motor vehicles to transport persons, motor vehicles to transport goods, electrical apparatus for telephony, petroleum gases, petroleum oils, electrical generating sets, rotary convertors, parts and accessories for tractors and public-transport passenger vehicles.

India´s Imports from Argentina

11.       Major items of imports are soybean oil, sunflower oil, copper ores and concentrates, barley, leguminous vegetables, prepared leather, petroleum, tanned or Crust hides/skins of bovine, quaternary ammonium salts and hydroxides and corn.

Investments, Joint Ventures and Business Delegations

12.       Several Indian companies have established operations in Argentina with cumulative investment of approximately USD 1 billion.  These include TCS, CRISIL, Bajaj, Hero, Cellent (Aegis Essar), United Phosphorus Ltd (UPL), Glenmark, Godrej, etc. In 2016 Mahindra Comviva, bought a majority stake in Advanced Technology Solutions (ATS) – an Argentina based mobile value added services company. In January 2017 Hero Motocorp entered in the Argentine market. On 24 October 2018 TVS Motors launched three two wheeler models for the Argentine market in association with Beta Motors, a local auto – manufacturer.

13.       Argentinian investment in India stands at approx. US$ 120 million. TECHINT, which is one of the largest seamless steel tubes manufacturers in the world, has offices in Delhi employing about 200 people. In April 2015 Globant, a major IT services firm in Argentina, acquired Clarice Technologies based in Bangalore. Presently, they have their operations in Pune, in addition to Bangalore. OLX, an online classified platform cofounded by an Argentine has presence in India, where it is the market leader with over 60 million transactions per month.

14.       Sonalika Pvt. Ltd. have a joint venture with Argentine company Apache of Santa Fe Province for manufacturing tractors. Bajaj Auto under a joint venture with Corven Argentina, has been producing various models of its motorcycles in Argentina. Bajaj motorcycles have become a competitive product in its segment in Argentina. In 2014, IMPLANTEC Argentina developed a strategic alliance with the Indian company APPASAMY ASSOCIATES, a global leader in the ophthalmological market and both companies have an intraocular lenses production plant in Argentina with a manufacturing capacity of 20,000 lenses monthly. Ishka Renewable Farms Private Lt, Kerala have signed a joint venture with Cooperative Alcaparras Argentinas to cultivate 1000 acres of capers in the Argentine province of Santiago del Estero.

15.       Two Export Promotion Council delegations viz., Capexcil and Chemexcil visited Argentina in September and October 2016 respectively and organized B2B exhibitions in Buenos Aires. In January 2017, India´s Hero Motocorp launched five models of motorcycles in Argentina. A delegation from the Solvent Extractors´ Association of India, visited Argentina in January 2017 at the invitation of the Ministry of Agroindustry of Argentina. A delegation of Indian Cereals and Pulses Organization visited Argentina in April 2017.

16.       A delegation of Automobile Components Manufacturers of India visited Argentina in October 2017 and held a Buyer- Seller meet. An OVL-led delegation visited Argentina in October 2017 and May 2018, held discussions with officials of the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Argentina, YPF, the Argentine Public Sector oil company, etc. The Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI) organized Source India, a three day Business to Business (B2B) event in Buenos Aires from 28 February – 2 March 2018. This was one of the largest business delegation visiting Argentina, where more than 100 businesspersons from India participated in the event and around 450 counterparts from Argentina were invited. The delegation represented sectors as diverse as textiles, software, sports goods, ceramic products, handicrafts among others. Members of the India – Argentina Parliamentary Friendship Group, led by its President and Member of Parliament Mr. Marcelo Wechsler visited the venue. Officials from the Argentina Foreign Office and Ministry of Agroindustry also participated in the event.

17.       The current President of Argentina, Mr. Mauricio Macri, and then Mayor of Buenos Aires attended the 4^th India - LAC Business Conclave organized by CII in New Delhi on 29 April 2010. In his special address at the valedictory session, he highlighted Argentina’s comparative strength in agricultural sector and invited Indian companies to invest in the country. While also inviting investments in infrastructure and IT sector, he acknowledged the significant advances made by Indian IT/ITeS industry globally and mentioned that TCS was the first company from India to set up operations in Argentina. (He had inaugurated the TCS Global Delivery Center in Buenos Aires in 2009.) Apart from meetings with then Minister of State in MEA and then Chief Ministers of Delhi and Maharashtra, he also met with Godrej and TCS officials. The Argentine Minister of Science, Technology and Innovative Production, Mr.Lino Barañao participated in BIO ASIA in Hyderabad in February 2014 and met his counterpart in Delhi. Then Governor of Santa Fe (equivalent to our Chief Minister), Mr. Antonio Bonfatti also led a Ministerial delegation to the BIOASIA in Hyderabad in February 2014 and held an interactive session with FICCI. He also called on then Union Minister for Renewable Energy, Shri Farooq Abdullah. Mr. Hernan Lamberti, Secretary of Production of Almirante Brown, Province of Buenos Aires participated in a Buyer – Seller meet in Delhi from 12 - 22 September 2014. The delegation met representatives from various sectors such as jewelry, textiles among others and interacted with IMC, FIEO, etc. An Argentine delegation participated in the India-LAC Investment Conclave held on 7 - 8 October 2015 in New Delhi. Several Indian companies participated in the Argentina Business and Investment Forum held in Buenos Aires in September 2016.

18.       In September 2016, an Argentine delegation led by Mr. Jesus Silveyra, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agroindustry, Government of Argentina participated in Globoil Conference 2016 held in Goa, India. An Argentine agri-business delegation led by Secretary of Agro-Industries Ms. Marisa Birchar and Joint Secretary of Agro-Industries Mr. Jesus Silveyra visited India in September 2017 and held business meetings with their counterparts and later participated in the Globoil Conference. The Argentine delegation also met the officials in the Department of Agriculture of Government of Maharashtra and issues of agriculture and technological co-operation were discussed. Mr. Jesus Silveyra later visited India to participate in the IPGA Pulses Conclave – 2018, held in New Delhi from 14-16 February 2018.

19.       An Argentine business delegation, ‘Argentina Hacia el Mundo’, visited India from 13-25 April 2018. The delegation consisted of officials from municipality of Almirante Brown and business houses from the province of Corrientes. During the visit the Economic Federation of Corrientes (FEC), a chamber of Commerce, signed an MoU with the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) in New Delhi. Another MoU was signed between FEC and Millenial India International Chamber of Commerce. A Business to Business event was organized by CII for the delegation which was attended by counterparts from India. The delegation from Almirante Brown also met with officials at the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC).

CULTURAL RELATIONS

20.       The Embassy has been organizing cultural programmes and visits of Indian troupes in various cities of Argentina including San Salvador de Jujuy, Almirante Brown, Tandil, Parana, Rio Cuarto and Buenos Aires.  In 2017, India weeks and days were organized in the provinces of Salta, Jujuy and Corrientes and the Municipality of Almirante Brown. Ms. Kirti Ramgopal, a Bharathanatyam dancer visited Argentina from 10-17 August 2017 and performed at several prestigious venues in Buenos Aires and at the Independence Day celebrations under the auspices of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).

21.       As part of celebrations of the 70^th anniversary of India’s independence and with the support of the Department of Culture, Government of India,  a six-member Odissi troupe led by Padma Sri Awardee Ms. Ranjana Gauhar visited Argentina from 2-11 November 2017 and gave performances in the provinces of Salta, Jujuy, Tucuman and Buenos Aires. A seven-member Kuttiyattam troupe led by Mr. Sooraj Nambiar of SNA Kuttiyattam Kendra visited Argentina from 25 February- 5 March 2018 and gave performances in the provinces of Rosario, Cordoba and Montevideo, Uruguay and Buenos Aires. In Buenos Aires, the Kuttiyattam troupe´s performance as part of Buenos Aires Celebra India, served as the closing event of a week- long program of India.

22.       The Mission in collaboration with the Government of the city of Buenos Aires, organized a “Buenos Aires Celebra India” on 4 March 2018. More than 50 artists performed classical and contemporary Indian dances, martial art forms and theatre. Forty stalls at the event sold food and Indian handicrafts as part of the event. The event was covered by local television, print and radio channels and was attended by more than 10,000 people.

23.       The first International Day of Yoga was celebrated on 21 June 2015 in all the 23 provinces of Argentina and the capital city, Buenos Aires, in collaboration with provincial and municipal governments, as well as 72 Universities and 200 yoga schools. The second International Yoga day was celebrated on 20 June 2016 in all the provinces of Argentina. The event was attended by local dignitaries in Buenos Aires including the Secretary of Human Rights and the Minister for Environment. The third International Day of Yoga was celebrated across the country on 20 June 2017 and was attended by local dignitaries including the Argentine Minister of Environment, Adviser to the President, President of the India-Argentina Parliamentary Friendship Group, Minister of Modernisation of the Buenos Aires Government, etc. The fourth International Day of Yoga (IDY) was celebrated in Buenos Aires on 20 June 2018 and in Asuncion, Paraguay and in Montevideo, Uruguay on 24 June 2018. Beyond Buenos Aires, IDY 2018 in Argentina was also celebrated in the cities of Mar del Plata, Cordoba, Necochea, Bella Vista, Rosario, Jujuy and Tucuman. The event in Buenos Aires was attended by 8,000 participants with dignitaries from the local government and the Congress in attendance, while the event in Montevideo drew more than 1000 participants. In total, close to 15,000 people participated in the IDY 2018 events across the countries of accreditation.

24.       In 2015 the first World Indologists Conference held in Delhi, 100 year old Indologist, Dr. Fernando Tola represented Argentina. Dr. Fernando Tola was selected for the Presidential Award of Certificate of Honour for the year 2016 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the cause of Sanskrit. Professor Carlos Moneta, a renowned Argentine academic, visited India under Indian Council of Cultural Relation´s Academic Visitors Programme in 2015.

25.       India tourism promotion activities were held in the capital city and provinces of Argentina in collaboration with the India Tourism Office, New York. A well-attended Indian food festival was organized on 22-23 April 2015 in Buenos Aires to showcase cuisine from various parts of the country. India Tourism office, New York along with Indian tour operators regularly participate in the annual International Tourism Fair held in Buenos Aires. An event promoting tourism with focus on Punjab was held in the Province of Salta in March 2017.

26.       An Indian poetry festival was organized on 10 June 2016 with distinguished poet and translator Yuyutsu RD Sharma and diplomat Abhay Kumar in attendance. The festival also included an Odissi performance by Argentine dancer Anandita Dasi.  Four Argentine films participated in the International Film Festival of India, 2015. A feature film – Thinking of Him –has been jointly produced on Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s encounter with Argentine intellectual, the late Victoria Ocampo. The film “Thinking of Him” was the closing film at the International Film Festival of India, Goa in November 2017. The Embassy organized a press publicity event for the movie in the Chancery followed by local screening of the movie on 21 August 2018 in Buenos Aires.

27.       The Minister of State for Tourism Shri KJ Alphons accompanied by DG (Tourism) Mr. Satyajeet Rajan attended the meetings of the G20 Tourism Ministers in Buenos Aires on 16-17 April 2018. In the Declaration adopted at the meeting the G20 Tourism Ministers agreed to facilitate innovation in tourism. On the sidelines of the meeting Shri Alphons met with the Tourism Minister of Argentina Mr. Gustavo Santos and also held meetings with counterparts from European Union, South Africa and with the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili.  Mr. Satyajeet Rajan also attended the World Travel and Tourism Council Summit in Buenos Aires on 18 April 2018, during which an Indian firm, ‘Global Himalayan Expedition’ won an award under the Communities rubric. At a luncheon meeting organized by the Embassy, Shri K. J. Alphons, addressed 23 tour operators from across Argentina briefing them about the tourism potential of India beyond well-known tourist spots and obtained their feedback to provide better services related to tourism. 

28.       On 24 August 2018 a community reception was organized in Salta province during the visit of Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad for the G20 Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting. The reception was attended by Mr. Kuldeep Singh, a provincial deputy of Indian origin as well as by members of the local Indian community. On 15 September 2018, Shri Suresh Prabhu, Minister for Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation during his visit to participate in the G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial meet, interacted with young Indian professionals working in Argentina.

Indian Community

29.       There are around 2400 overseas Indians living in Argentina. Most of the Non Resident Indians live in the capital city of Buenos Aires, some having lived here for over thirty years. Majority of them are from the Sindhi community. Others are professionals working with Indian companies and multinational corporations such as TCS, Cognizant Technologies, IBM, J.P Morgan etc. About 300 Sikhs from Punjab had settled down in Salta province, located in the north of the country in the course of the early and mid-twentieth century. Over time, they have assimilated in the local population and become Argentine citizens. Most of them are in retail and wholesale trade. The first generation immigrants speak Punjabi. A Gurudwara has been established in the town Rosario de la Frontera, where Guru Nanak Day is celebrated every year. In 2017 the Embassy of India donated two (2) computers to the Gurudwara to assist them in seeking consular assistance, maintaining database, etc.

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November 2018