The Southern Arc: Deepening India–Latin America Engagement

India’s engagement with Latin America has often been viewed through two lenses: geographic distance and untapped potential. Over the years, however, growing trade, stronger people-to- people ties, and shared multilateral interests rooted in the Global South perspective have brought the two regions closer. Annual India–Latin America trade has now surpassed $50 billion and is on track to reach the $100 billion mark by 2027. Naturally, economic cooperation has emerged as a key driver of this relationship.

At the recent India–Latin America & Caribbean Conclave, India underscored its intent to expand trade through preferential trade agreements with MERCOSUR and other bilateral arrangements. Priority areas include renewable energy, joint ventures in lithium processing and battery manufacturing, and collaboration in agriculture.

India’s partnership with Mexico—its second-largest trading partner in the region after Brazil—is expanding across pharmaceuticals, IT, and digital infrastructure. With Argentina, the focus lies on strategic cooperation in lithium extraction and renewable energy. Peru and Chile are critical to India’s mineral supply chains. Additionally, India has been working with Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Chile, and Panama to advance its solar energy agenda under the International Solar Alliance. Most recently, the visit of Paraguayan President Santiago Peña Palacios has further deepened bilateral cooperation in defence, health, trade, and information technology.

India’s growing ties with key Latin American nations underscore the region’s increasing relevance in its global strategy. Strategically, it is in both regions’ interest to view India–Latin America relations through an Indo-Pacific lens. With China expanding its footprint across Latin America and global competition intensifying over access to critical minerals, India must not be left behind. This event seeks to bring together diverse perspectives on the India–Latin America relationship to inform and shape future policy decisions.