Chile’s President in India
By Dr. D.K. Giri
(Prof. NIIS Group of Institutions, Odisha)
The practice in the media and political circles is creating a buzz and excitement when leaders of big powers visit India. Leaders from United States, Japan, European Union, China and Russia draw a good deal of public attention. The proposed visit of Russian President Putin is already featuring in several media. Prime Minister Modi seems to be departing from that trend and is inviting leaders of countries having small and medium power. Last year when he met the new President of Chile Gabriel Boric Font on the sidelines of G-20 meeting in Brazil, he invited the latter to visit India. In response, Chilean President made his first official visit to India from 1 to 5 April.
The visit of Gabriel Font is significant on more than one account. He is a new generation politician in Chile who moved from student politics to the highest office of President of the country. He promised to break the mould in Chilean politics. In her banquet welcome, Hon’ble President of India underlined this aspect. Second, Gabriel Font’s visit corresponds well to Modi’s scheme of consolidating the Global South. Prime Minister Modi singled out Chile in his appreciation for its participation in all the three editions of the Voice of Global South summits. Third, Chile was the only Latin American country which sent an envoy to the celebration of Independence of India in 1947. Fourth, Chile was one of the first Latin American countries to sign a trade agreement with India in 1956.
Unarguably, it is in the national interest of India, and the strategic ambition of becoming the Voice of the Global South, India’s foreign policy should continue to engage with all the countries of Global South, big or small. President of Chile acknowledged this special trait of Modi while endorsing his new image effusively, “Prime Minister Modi is now a key player in the current geo-political environment. He is the only leader in the world today, who can speak to Donald Trump of USA, the Presidents of both- Ukraine and Russia – Zelenskyy and Putin respectively – European Union, Latin American leaders, and Iran and Greece”. Irrespective of the diplomatic nicety, this is a strong statement in favour of Modi’s geo-political acumen.
India-Chile diplomatic relations go back to 76 years beginning in 1949. There has been a fair convergence of positions in international relations between both countries. They have had moderate bilateral relations ever since 1949. The major component has been trade. A framework agreement for bilateral trade was initiated in 2005. It was meant to promote widespread economic cooperation between both countries which was envisaged as a prelude to a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA). A year later, PTA was signed between both countries in March 2006, which became operational in September 2007.
Under the PTA, a Joint Administrative Committee (JAC) was constituted continually to review the functioning of PTA, and to recommend its expansion. In 2016, both countries signed a new India-Chile Preferential Trade Agreement marking a ten-fold jump in the number of products to be traded on concessional rates. India’s bilateral trade with Chile stood at 2.6b USD in that year. Now, both President Font and Prime Minister Modi agreed to initiate discussion on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
During this visit, the whole gamut of bilateral relations was reviewed and many new initiatives were taken. The Chilean President was accompanied with a big delegation from diverse sectors to cover the entirety of bilateral relations. The delegation included ministers, academics, administrators, entrepreneurs, cultural actors, defence personnel et al. In fact, Prime Minister Modi had a special mention on the size and diversity of the delegation.
One important development which concerns many Indians is about the visa. Chilean President announced multiple entry visas to Indian business persons. The Indian Diaspora is quite small in Chile compared to other countries; it has just over thousand members. India had already extended the e-visa facility to Chile. Like in any bilateral relations, people-to-people contact was given priority. Exchange of students, faculty and cultural programmes was also discussed. Notably, an ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations), chair on Indian Studies has been decided to set up in any of the Chilean universities.
Trading on minerals from both countries figured in a big way. This was necessary to boost the industries in both countries. A MoU on traditional medicines was signed between both countries. India has rich tradition and practice of traditional medicines along with Yoga and natural wellness. Chile invited Indian attention to building infrastructure like railways, and support in defence preparedness. India reciprocated by offering to train Chile’s defence personnel in its premier institutes like NDC, NDA and HDMC.
Terrorism was another topic which was seriously discussed. New Delhi has been flagging off international terrorism in bilateral as well as multilateral forums. Both leaderships discussed the functioning of FATF (Financial Action Task Force) and NMFT (No Money for Terrorism). Both leaders agreed to work for a comprehensive cooperation in international terrorism. Cross-border terrorism has been a menace for any country in the world.
President Gabriel Font appreciated India’s initiative in setting up the International Solar Alliance (ISA). India took the leadership along with France to set up this renewable energy association. India was the first country to become the international convener of ISA. Prime Minister Modi appreciated Chile joining ISA since November 2023. He also thanked President Font for agreeing to host the 7th ISA Regional Committee meeting for Latin American and Caribbean countries. At the same time, Prime Minister Modi thanked Chile for joining the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) since January 2021. This is critically important coalition given the recurrence of natural disasters. The latest is the horrible earthquake in Myanmar and Thailand.
New Delhi offered to help Chile in building its digital public infrastructure. India is leading in building digital platforms. Even at a small tea stall or fruit vendor, one can pay digitally. This has been appreciated across the world. Chile will do well to invite Indian technology and the know-how to enhance the digital sector. The other area of interest is the pharma industry. The President invited Indian pharma manufacturers to trade in his country.
At the time of writing, HE Gabriel Font was to visit Agra, Mumbai and Bangaluru in order to meet companies, local politicians and others interested in doing business with Chile. The main contours of upgrading the bilateral relations were discussed in Delhi with Prime Minister and his cabinet colleagues. The state visits to Maharashtra and Karnataka are supposed to supplement the initiatives taken at Delhi.
All in all, it should be a good visit by the President of Chile which would lead to deepening of relations. Focussing on spreading Spanish language would perhaps accelerate the people-to-people contact which is the key to good bilateralism. Good luck President of Chile. — INFA