India rolled out the red carpet on Tuesday for Chile’s President Gabriel Boric, that country’s youngest ever chief executive, who landed in Delhi on a 5-day visit.
As he did the rounds of Raj Ghat and received External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for a preliminary exchange of views, reports indicate the two sides are keen to upgrade the preferential trading arrangement of 2005 into a comprehensive economic partnership. This is expected to boost current rather low trading volumes.
The high-level delegation accompanying President Boric will be looking to expand commercial exchanges into new areas. It will be meeting business leaders, industry representatives, startups, innovators and tech honchos.
For India, the visit of Chile’s President holds out the prospect of deepening linkages in the minerals and mining sector, in particular strategic metals such as copper, for instance, and minerals like lithium that hold a key place in semiconductors and electronics, currently a major focus. Both are key ingredients in India’s green energy transition and infrastructure needs.
Sources have confirmed to StratNewsGlobal that the two sides are expected to explore opportunities to develop and secure lithium resources. This rare mineral is very critical for battery manufacturing and the expansion of sustainable technologies and are used not only in electric vehicles but in submarines, space projects as well as mobile phones and more.
Discussions will explore opportunities for collaboration in fields like artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and digital infrastructure. India’s expertise in pharmaceuticals and bio-pharmaceuticals will also be highlighted.
A key topic will be renewable energy. India’s growing renewable energy capacity complements Chile’s expertise in solar and wind power, and both nations are likely to discuss joint projects and knowledge exchange.
President Boric’s visit comes after a 15-year hiatus in high-level exchanges between the two nations, signaling a new phase in their cooperation.
The last Chilean President to visit India was Ricardo Escobar in 2007 and Michelle Bachelet in 2009.
For India, the outreach to Chile is in keeping with the trend over the last year when Modi visited a number of countries not visible for many years on India’s foreign policy radar.
In July Modi was in Austria for the first visit by an Indian leader in 41 years, followed by Poland which has not seen an Indian leader in 45 years. Add to that Ukraine in September where no Indian leader has ever gone followed by Kuwait in December.
