Dr Aprajita Kashyap

The enduring relationship between India and Argentina can be attributed to long and deep economic, political and cultural ties, shared interests, concerns relating to democracy and human rights, combating terrorism and respect for rule of law. The informal relations were established way back in 1924 when Rabindranath Tagore had visited Argentina and was hosted by the Argentine writer Victoria Ocampo, based on which he penned a series of poems under the title “Purabi.” Argentina had established a consulate in Calcutta in the 1920s and India had opened a Trade Commission in Buenos Aires in 1943 which became a full-fledged embassy in 1949, thus formalizing the ties.

The formal associations have witnessed the exchange of several dignitaries and delegations at various levels and with different mandates. The visits at the highest level from the Argentine side include those by President Arturo Frondizi in 1961, President Reynaldo Bignone in 1983 for attending the NAM summit, President Raul Alfonsin for participating as the chief guest on Republic Day in 1985, President Carlos Menem in 1994, President Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner in 2009 and President Mauricio Macri in 2019. From the Indian side, the highest-level visits comprise those undertaken by PM Indira Gandhi in 1968, President Zail Singh in 1984, PM PV Narasimha Rao in 1995 for attending the G-15 Summit and PM Narendra Modi during the G7 Summit in 2018.

Argentina’s advantageous international trade position is an outcome of being a leader in primary products like meat, wheat and soy exporter to the world. The comparative advantage owing to these over the years started losing sheen and it was time to emphasize export diversification following the lost decade of the 1980s. Export diversification helps nations to discover unexplored natural resources with high demands to re-build the comparative advantage in their economy. Such diversification helped a fragile economy like Argentina to reduce excessive reliance on the export of primary products, lessen the volatility of export currency earnings, and infuse growth in the economy. Consequently, it began specialising in manufactures of agricultural origin (MAO). This aspect was pertinent to other developing countries including India, which had little access to the international financial market and depended heavily on the import of capital goods and technology.

The increased production due to diversification necessitated both Argentina and India to ferret out new partners and new markets. The catalysts for mutual association were the camaraderie within NAM (until Argentina exited in 2018); the realm of South-South cooperation; coordination and similar standpoints in international forum and the developing economy status. The two countries maintain nearly similar viewpoints on several bilateral and multilateral issues. Bilateral cooperation has existed in agriculture, trade and investment, science and technology, education and culture. The newer areas of deliberation have revolved around civil nuclear energy, infrastructure, space, oil and gas. The bilateral relations have been elevated to strategic partnership since 2019.

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Major exports from Argentina to India are soybean and related MAO (80.5%), Gold (10.2%), animal hides (1%), and a few other items. Exports from India comprise refined petroleum (20.2%), chemicals and pesticides (37%) yarn and fibers (6 %) and motorcycles, cycles and related parts (6 %) (OEC 2021). In April 2022, the Foreign Minister of Argentina, Santiago Cafiero participated in the Raisina Dialogue, where yet again the growth of business in soybean oil imports was emphasized. The identified potential areas of mutual engagement are the pharmaceutical sector; renewable energy sources; nuclear medicine; and defense cooperation. Soft power could be another area of engagement and the tone has been set with the popularity of Indian alternative healing practices, yoga, dance forms and the Argentine film director Pablo César’s Indo-Argentinean film project on Tagore.

In the last two decades, within Argentina expansion of activities associated with the primary sector, such as mining, oil, cattle and soy (reprimarization), vindicates the growth in trade with China. Certain Argentine agribusiness sectors have now been accentuating the diversification of markets to reduce dependence on China which is its largest trading partner for a large portion of exports. India can capitalise on these sentiments and two areas in which India can undeniably excel are the capability of its human resources in information technology and Cyber security. Another probable area could be the health sector for the reason that the Government of Argentina’s health agenda is focusing on cost containment and modernization (like tele-consultation and e-health). The goodwill of India is certainly revered more than that of China in Latin America.

Multilateral engagements include a preferential trade agreement between India and MERCOSUR (of which Argentina is a member) that came into operation in 2009. India and Argentina are proactive within the United Nations, the G20 and other international organizations importantly the International Solar Alliance where they speak in unison about the restructuring of the UNSC, combating climate change, adoption of renewable energy sources and fair play in trade.

In recent times, there have been speculations about the expansion of BRICS and Argentina is one of the countries being viewed as a probable member of the expanded grouping. The rationale for this prognosis has been the presence of Argentine President Alberto Fernandez in the 2022 meeting. This conjecture gets weakened by the fact that even earlier Presidents have attended BRICS meetings such as Mauricio Macri in South Africa (2018) and Cristina Kirchner attended the first summit between heads of state of the BRICS and UNASUR countries in Brazil (2014). An easier possibility for Argentina would be to join the New Development Bank, or BRICS bank whose membership can be obtained even without becoming a BRICS member. For Argentina, the challenge is also to give parity to its ties with the US because even the remotest possibility of alignment with both China and Russia on a single platform may have an impact.

Also Read: Is it feasible that Argentina joins the BRICS?

The Argentina-India relations have been growing steadily and the Indian government’s efforts to eliminate import tariffs on oils can be a booster to this bilateral link. The visit of the External Affairs Minister in August 2022 is taking place at a time when the two countries are bringing their strategic partnership to the limelight in this multipolar world. To fortify the relationship, both sides need to establish new institutions and agreements to improve the business climate. These could include specific trade agreements, sectoral MOUs assisting small and medium business enterprises and collaboration between Universities and academia. Subsequent to the goals set in Argentina’s planning relating to the development of more technologically sophisticated industrial segments, China and Brazil have become significant trading partners, the task of drawing Argentina’s focus towards trade with India could be achievable through India’s skillful diplomacy.

Author is Faculty in Latin American Studies Programme, CCUS&LAS, SIS,  JNU, New Delhi. Can be reached at: aprajitakash@gmail.com

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