New Delhi: India has signed an agreement with Argentina to cooperate in agriculture and allied sectors.
Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar is on a tour to three Latin American countries, also including Mexico and Brazil.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in agriculture and allied sectors was signed during his visit, according to a statement posted on the website of the Indian Embassy in Argentina.
Pawar is accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, Haryana Agriculture Minister and ministers for rural development and water resources from Maharashtra along with a delegation of businessmen, it said.
The delegation had meetings with Argentinian Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Minister Julian Andres Dominguez and agricultural companies, the statement said.
India is a major importer of Argentina`s soyabean oil and pulses. During 2009-10, the bilateral trade between the two countries stood at USD 942 million.
In August, during Dominguez`s visit to India, the two countries agreed to sign two MoUs for cooperation in farm sector and on quality norms for trade in animal products.
Besides, India had asked Argentina to remove non-tariff restrictions on imports of pharmaceutical products from the country to boost the bilateral trade.
Pawar, who had made a proposal to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to decontrol the sugar sector, would also be in Brazil on Wednesday to study how the idea was successfully implemented in the world`s top producer of the sweetener.
Brazil, which decontrolled its sugar sector in phases between 1991 and 1997, has achieved success in the sector.
PTI
