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I - Political Relations:
India-Chile relations are characterized by warmth, friendship and a commonality of views on a wide range of issues. Chile shares India’s concerns over the threat of international terrorism and has regularly condemned the acts of cross-border terrorism that India has suffered. Both countries cooperate extensively in multilateral fora and share similar views on climate change/renewable energy issues and on expansion and reforms of the UNSC. Chile articulated its support for India’s claim to a permanent seat in the UNSC in a Joint Statement issued at the conclusion of the official visit of Chile’s Foreign Minister to India in April 2003, and has consistently reiterated this support since. It also signed the International Solar Alliance Framework Agreement in November 2017.
In 2009, India and Chile celebrated 60 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations which coincided with the visit to India by the President of Chile, H.E. Dr. Michelle Bachelet Jeria. This was in reciprocation of then Hon’ble President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil’s visit to Chile in 2008. Hon’ble President Ram Nath Kovind visited Chile (30 March to 1 April 2019) which also marked the 70 th Anniversary of establishment of India-Chile diplomatic relations. The first India-Chile Joint Commission Meeting was held virtually on 16 October 2020, co-chaired by India’s External Affairs Minister and Chile’s Foreign Minister. The Eighth Round of India-Chile Foreign Office Consultations was held in New Delhi on 31 March 2023.
India and Chile have signed Agreements/MoUs covering various fields of cooperation such as Sports, S&T, Antarctica, Defence, Air Services, Agriculture, New and Renewable Energy, Education, Outer Space, Geology and Mineral Resources, and Gainful employment of spouses and eligible dependents of diplomatic personnel. On 6 September 2016, an Agreement on the expansion of the India-Chile Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) was signed in New Delhi which increased the scope of the agreement from about 474 tariff lines to 2829 tariff lines. Further expansion of the PTA is under discussion. During MoS (VK)’s visit to Chile in May 2018, an MoU was also signed on the establishment of a high-level Joint Commission between India and Chile. During visit of Hon’ble President on 1 April 2019, agreements for cultural exchange and cooperation in mining sectors were renewed and an agreement was signed on cooperation in disability sector. The Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement between India and Chile was signed on 9 March 2020 and came into effect from 19 October 2022 after ratification of both countries.
II - Trade and Economic Relations:
India’s exports to Chile had been growing steadily since 2009, with the exception of a slight decrease in 2014, when a new carbon tax on diesel vehicles in Chile adversely affected motor vehicle exports from India, but this sector has seen a big recovery. The expanded preferential trade agreement began implementation in May 2017 and since then India’s exports to Chile have increased. While still higher than the amount in 2017, Indian exports to Chile in 2019 were less than 2018 because of the impact of the social crisis. In 2020 also, we saw a decline due to the pandemic. These figures however do not reflect the amount of trade in services, which is difficult to quantify, as Chilean statistics are difficult to obtain, and also because Indian IT companies have adopted Chilean identities. India’s trade with Chile has registered a negative growth over a couple of years due to the global slowdown and the domestic social crisis and labour unrest in Chile. The trade has now picked up and recovered in 2021-22 onwards.
Year
Exports from India to Chile (CIF)
Imports from Chile by India (FOB)
Total Indo-Chilean bilateral trade
Source: Department of Commerce (In Million US Dollars)
India’s export to Chile are diversified and constitute motor vehicles/cars, drug formulations, chemicals, products of iron & steel, man-made yarn, fabrics, cotton fabrics, made-ups, RMG Cotton including accessories, auto components, electric machinery and equipment, leather goods, rubber products, bulk drugs, drug intermediates, footwear of leather, iron and steel, aluminium & its product, ceramics & allied products, RMG man-made fibres etc. The top 25 principal commodities constitute 94% of India’s total exports to Chile during 2021. The top 10 constitute the 70%.
Visits of business delegations: Former President of Chile and President Bachelet’s Special Envoy to the Asia Pacific, Mr. Eduardo Frei, led business delegations to India in November 2015, October 2017 and August 2019. There have been many visits by various organisations (such as CII, FICCI, PHDCCI, ITPO, CLE, PHARMEXCIL, AMA, EPCH, HEPC etc) from India to Chile to hold BSMs/B2B meetings, participate in Trade Fairs, and to organize road shows in the areas of pharma, apparel, handicrafts, leather, chemicals and allied products, sports goods, information technology, tourism, etc. The 8 th India-LAC Business Conclave was held in Santiago on 1-2 October 2018. Dr. V.K. Saraswat led 5-member Niti Aayog delegation visited Chile for sourcing/acquiring lithium in October 2019. A delegation of Confederation of Chilean Industry (SOFOFA) visited India from 19-26 June 2023 and held meetings with several Government authorities as well as CII and other Chambers. SOFOFA and CII held the first meeting of India Chile Business Council on 19 June 2023 in New Delhi. The 9 th India-LAC Business Conclave is scheduled for 3-4 August 2023 in New Delhi. Mr. Sebastián Gómez Fiedler, Director General of Bilateral Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile lead the Chilean official delegation in the India-LAC Conclave. Chemexcil has successfully organized a BSM in Santiago on 5 October 2023.
Investments: As far as Indian investment in Chile is concerned, based on the information given by various companies, it amounts to about US$620 million. Indian companies have entered the Chilean market by acquiring Chilean companies or setting up joint ventures. Chilean investment in India amounts to US$ 118 million (source: DIPP). In addition, Chilean Financial Institutions have invested more than US$ 3.2 bn in the Indian Financial sector.
III – ITEC:
25 slots are offered to civilians every year and we have seen a good response, especially in courses for English language, IT skills, Legislative drafting, Audit, E-Governance, Renewable energy and Environmental technologies. On the defence side, slots are offered regularly for Staff College, NDC, NDA, and HDMC. In addition, slots have been offered in the past for specialized courses in peacekeeping operations and mountain warfare. However, uptake of these offers is not satisfactory, primarily because defence ITEC slots are not funded by us, unlike the civilian slots which are fully funded.
IV – Cultural Relations:
Indian culture is very popular here in Chile. There are a large number of local Yoga schools (Kundalini Yoga, Iyengar Yoga, Bikram Yoga etc.) and practitioners. Chile has declared 4 th November as National Day of Yoga. There are also quite a few Chileans who have learned Indian classical dance and music, some of whom run their own schools. Bollywood music and dance is also popular. Indian cuisine is appreciated and there are many Indian restaurants in Santiago. Organisations such as ISKCON, Brahmakumari Samaj, and Art of Living are also flourishing. There are Hindu Temples in Santiago, Iquique and Punta Arenas. There is also a small but thriving community of Buddhists.
Cultural events are organised regularly by the Embassy, and get a good response. The International Day of Yoga is also celebrated annually and in 2017, was celebrated in the Chilean Parliament for the first time, and again in 2018 and 2019. For the first time, India officially participated in the “Santiago a Mil” International Theater Festival held in January 2018 in Santiago with performances/workshops by Mr. Astad Deboo and his group. The year long celebrations for the 150 th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi was launched by MOS, Gen. (Dr.) V. K. Singh (Retd.), who was in Chile for the 8 th CII India-LAC Conclave. A six member Manganiar group led by Shri Ghazi Khan, participated, again for the first time, in Chile’s WOMAD festival in February, 2019. In 2020, virtual celebrations were organized for International Yoga Day, Independence Day (including a festival of patriotic films) and Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary. Events included the posting on YouTube of two series of videos in Spanish on the Rig Veda and on Indian cuisine respectively, screening of patriotic films as well as films on Gandhi etc.
The Cultural Corporation of Las Condes Municipality and the Municipality of Providencia joined hands with the Mission in organizing a virtual programme on the occasion of ‘International Day of Yoga’ on 21 June 2021.
Since 2021, Embassy has actively celebrated Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM) by organizing a series of events both virtual and physical. Various exhibitions on Indian themes on Indian delicacies, Khadi products, Indian classical dances, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, etc. were held. Events on Diwali, Gandhi Jayanti, Ayurveda, etc. were held by the Embassy with big participation of Indian community and friends of India in Chile. In addition, Embassy organized a gala event of textile exhibition on Indian silk sarees on 8-14 November, 2021 in association with the Cultural Corporation of Las Condes and a two-month long exhibition on ‘Rumals of Chamba – Pahari Embroidery’ on 22 June – 28 August 2022 in association with Artequin Museum.
Hon’ble MoS for External Affairs, Smt Meenakashi Lekhi, participated in the Curtain Raiser event of International Day of Yoga organized at Hotel Marriott on 4 May, 2022 during her two day visit to Chile. The Gimnasium of Las Condes Municipality joined hands with the Mission in organizing a physical programme on the occasion of ‘International Day of Yoga’ in June 2022 and June 2023. As a part of Guardian Ring, the Mission organized an Yoga event at Hotel Marriott Santiago on 21 June, 2022 which was live streamed on DD India. The Mission also took part in the Ocean Ring of Yoga and organized a yoga session on board of the Chilean Naval Ship “Almirante Montt” in collaboration with Chilean Navy on 21 June 2023.
V - Indian Community:
The origins of the Indian community in Chile can be traced back to 1905. Currently, it is estimated that there are around 3950 Overseas Indians (1800 NRIs and 2150 PIOs) living in Chile. One third of them live in Iquique and the rest are in Santiago, Valparaiso, Vina del Mar and Punta Arenas. The majority are from the Sindhi community who are mainly engaged in business, and have integrated well with Chilean society. In addition, there is a constant flow of professionals and businessmen from India, working mainly in the ICT and financial services sectors and also in Indian companies represented in Chile. Some Indian labour is also present in Chile, working mainly in Indian restaurants/shops.
