PM Modi holds talks with Argentine President Milei

Buenos Aires: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday held wide-ranging talks with Argentine President Javier Milei, focusing on boosting bilateral cooperation in a range of areas including critical minerals, trade and investment and energy. Modi arrived in Buenos Aires on Friday on a two-day trip in the third leg of his five-nation tour. In their talks, Modi and Milei primarily focused on expanding the India-Argentina ties in a range of key areas including trade, investment, energy agriculture and critical minerals, it is learnt.

The relationship between the two countries was elevated to strategic partnership during the visit to India of the then Argentine President Mauricio Macri in February, 2019. The two sides have been cooperating in several key areas such as trade, defence, critical minerals, oil and gas, nuclear energy, agriculture, cultural and technology. India and Argentina have significant cooperation in the mineral resources sector, particularly in lithium -- a critical input for India's green energy transition. An MoU on cooperation in the field of mineral resources was signed in August 2022. The first meeting of the joint working group, set up under the framework of the MoU, was held in January. The India-Argentina bilateral trade has been on an upswing. The trade volume more than doubled in three years from 2019 to 2022, peaking at USD 6.4 billion in 2022. In 2021 and 2022, India was Argentina's fourth largest trading partner. In 2024, total annual bilateral trade between India and Argentina was USD 5.23 billion, positioning India as Argentina's fifth-largest trading partner and export destination.