Buenos Aires: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Argentine President Javier Milei on Saturday agreed to diversify India-Argentina trade basket and vowed to expand cooperation in a range of critical areas such as defence, security, energy and minerals. In their wide-ranging talks, the two leaders emphasised on boosting defence cooperation between the two countries as it will serve each other’s strategic interests.
Modi arrived in Buenos Aires on Friday on a two-day trip in the third leg of his five-nation tour. Though Modi visited Argentina in 2018 to attend the G20 Summit, it is the first bilateral visit to the South American country by an Indian prime minister after a gap of 57 years.
In a social media post, Modi said he and President Milei discussed ways to diversify trade ties and enhance cooperation in sectors such as agriculture, defence, security and energy.
“There is immense scope in areas like pharmaceuticals and sports as well,” he said.The prime minister described his meeting with Milei as “excellent”. “We are marking 75 years of India-Argentina diplomatic relations and 5 years since we elevated our relationship to a Strategic Partnership. We have covered significant ground in our bilateral relations, but we agree that the journey ahead is even more promising,” the prime minister posted on X.
Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs Periasamy Kumaran said the two leaders agreed to enhance India-Argentina collaboration across a range of sectors, including trade and commerce, technology, defence, space, health and pharmaceuticals.
Modi and Milei also agreed to further deepen the strategic partnership, he said adding they discussed the necessity to expand and diversify trade.