India to expand economic partnership with Chile as part of Indo-Pacific vision

NEW DELHI: India and Latin American economic major Chile on Friday deliberated upon expanding their Preferential Trade Agreement and creating Joint Business Council to promote multi-faceted business and trade links as Delhi hopes to expand its Indo-Pacific construct.

These decisions were arrived at the first Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) between India and Chile was held on a virtual platform, on Friday. It was co-chaired by S. Jaishankar, Foreign Minister and his Chilean counterpart Andres Allamand Zavala. Chile had decided to open its Consulate General in Mumbai to promote trade links.

The JCM with Chile was a significant development, being the first institutionalized dialogue between the two countries at the level of Foreign Ministers. Chile is a member of Pacific Alliance comprising Chile; Peru; Colombia and Mexico. The Pacific Alliance seeks closer ties with India and the Alliance can be an anchor for India in one geographical part of the Indo-Pacific region.

India and Chile have signed the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement in March 2020; and two sides are working to sign a Bilateral Investment Protection Treaty. In addition to this, the further expansion of the PTA was discussed on Friday. Negotiations are underway between the teams from both sides. India’s PTA with Chile was first expanded in 2017. This has been helpful in boosting bilateral trade and Chile is today the fifth largest trading partner of India in the Latin American region. Chile is a country which has engaged extensively with the outside world. It has free trade agreements with a large number of countries and regions.

Chile has a huge base of natural resources which includes copper, tin, forest resources. It has control of a large part of Antarctica and has a very large maritime boundary, having the distinction of being the longest country in the world.

Chile is a country which has engaged extensively with the outside world. It has free trade agreements with a large number of countries and regions. his has been helpful in boosting our bilateral trade and Chile is today the fifth largest trading partner of India in the LAC region.

Establishment of a Joint Business Council is under negotiations with a view to encourage and facilitate actions leading both country’s business communities to promote cooperation in trade, investment, services and all industrial sectors between the two countries. Chile is also considering the introduction of multiple entry and long-term visas for Indian businessmen.

India and Chile are also working on a MoU for cooperation on health and export of generic medicines from here to Chile. The two sides are focussing on agricultural cooperation, which includes an agreement on Agriculture as well as market access issues for products of mutual interest. Chile is a member of the International Solar Alliance and it is in the process of ratifying the agreement. India and Chile have an agreement for cooperation in the field of exploration and peaceful uses of outer space. India launched a Chilean nano-satellite in 2017. On Friday Both sides discussed ways to take forward the space cooperation.

The two Ministers also discussed multilateral issues of mutual interest including but not limited to Climate Change, Terrorism, Multilateral Candidatures, UN and the present COVID-19 pandemic, as well as regional issues.

The Prime Minister had interactions with the Chilean President Sebastian Pinera thrice in recent times on the sidelines of G20 meetings in Buenos Aires (2018) and Osaka (2019) as well as G7 in Biarritz (2019).





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