A new chapter in Indo-Latin American ties

Kamna Arora

India and Latin America are two distant regions, facing similar problems and enjoying almost the same culture. But the two sides have had less interaction in the past as compared to other regions of the world. However, the era of globalisation has changed everything by making distance and borders meaningless. India today needs to reach out to not just the US and Europe, but other regions as well to meet its growing needs and extend its influence. One of the key components of India`s foreign policy has been its economic diplomacy. For an energy-hungry country like India, Latin American countries can prove to be a good bet. But what India needs for this is more engagement and more institutions. Moving forward in this direction is the Indo-Latin American Friendship Association (ILAFA). Set up in New Delhi this year, the Association has almost 100 active members, both Indian and Latin American individuals. The members hail from diverse fields and are an eclectic mix of diplomats, parliamentarians, academics, media persons and businessmen. In an exclusive chat with Zeenews.com at an informal gathering, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa – a former Union minister and the chairman of ILAFA – expressed hope that the friendship group will be joined by all Latin American countries to start a new kind of integration at political, social and cultural level. When asked how Latin American nations can help India in fulfilling its dream of being a super power, Dhindsa insisted that a developing country (like India) should join hands with other developing countries to grow. So, Latin America is the region, which can help India perform well, he added. Dhindsa, however, laughingly refrained from commenting on India’s foreign policy that focuses less on Latin America, saying he is from an Opposition party. He, however, said that his party wants to have friendly ties with every country, including Pakistan. A new government will bring some change in the foreign policy, he said without elaborating how Latin America will be placed in it. A number of Ambassadors from Latin American countries marked their presence at the event, most notable of which were Venezuelan Ambassador to India Milena Santana-Ramirez, Dominican Republic`s Hans Dannenberg Castellanos, Paraguay’s Genaro Vicente Pappalardo, and Ecuadorian envoy Caros Abad. Venezuelan Ambassador Santana-Ramirez has played a key role in this Indo-Latin American friendship initiative. Commenting on the ties between India and Latin America, the Venezuelan envoy told Zeenews.com that the relationship between the two sides was improving day-by-day in several areas. “There is a lot of awareness (in India) that our region is really very important, not just in terms of economic development but also there are many similarities between the two regions. This has done good to the ties between the two sides,” she said. Santana-Ramirez further pointed out the common grounds between India and Latin America. “Latin America is a very stable area. There is a trend to the Left parties, working towards the social needs of the people. My President, (Hugo) Chavez, is working for Socialism of the 21st century, which means that we are inclined to resolve the problems of the people… I do not think there is a lot of difference between us and the Indian government because the latter uses different module, like social inclusion. Social inclusion also means you have to work for the people. This act also includes the work in areas such as women’s participation and micro-credit. All these areas are being worked on in Latin America. There are a lot of subjects that we can interact.” Did she face any hurdle when she started abridging the gap between India and Latin America? “When we started working on this project three years back, everybody used to say Latin America is really very far away. Here (in India) people assume that the US is closer, but if you see geographically, it is the same distance,” she said. “The project started with knocking at MPs’ doors, visiting them and telling them that there is Latin America, there is Venezuela, Paraguay, Dominican Republic…We have been creating a network, a political forum. We have been organising visits to the various Indian states, like Punjab, Gujarat, Assam, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Kerala, to name a few. The visit was organised with the help of MPs and support of local people. Every state has its own agenda and it is very important to discover new opportunities and possibilities there to assure people-to-people contact and country-to-country contact.” Last year, India’s trade with Latin America stood at USD 16 billion. However, New Delhi’s competitor, China, has already set its foot well in the region. China’s trade with Latin America in 2008 was about USD 140 billion. So, can India catch up with China in order to engage Latin America? Ecuadorian Ambassador Caros Abad says, “India is making a big effort, but China is well ahead in investment, transfer of technology, and in many other areas. I will advice India to be more aggressive in forming ties with Latin America.” “I think we should engage each other much faster. More possibilities should be sought to face such problems together and react together. There should be more dialogue.” “Perhaps, the recent financial crisis has taught us something important that what happens when you depend on the US and the EU. So, we should be rather more dependent on South countries. We share the same goals, same principles, and same agenda. That is why India, and Asia in general, should engage more with Latin America”. Paraguay’s Ambassador Genaro Vicente Pappalardo meanwhile tagged Indo-Latin American ties as fantastic. He pointed out that “India and Latin America can do a lot of things in a number of fields, such as culture and business.” Underlining the significance of cultural ties between India and Latin America, Pappalardo said, “Culture opens the door of any country. It helps a country link with the other one.” Dominican Republic`s envoy Hans Dannenberg Castellanos said that the Latin American Ambassadors involved in the project were “trying to make more people-to-people contact”. “We are trying to identify counterparts in our countries who will assist the Indian businessmen to assure the sustainability of this friendship. Ambassadors come and go, but relationships between people continue, regardless of the posting of ambassadors.” “The friendship association helps us in connecting with different states of India.” Is India different from Latin America? Castellanos had this to say, “Indians tend to have a little knowledge about our region because of our language. But we (India and Latin America) share a lot more similarities than with Europe. Indians and Latin Americans have same values.” “The more I go back home, the more I realise we (India and Latin America) are so similar. The more you are here (India), the less you want to leave. India is like another home to me.”