India–Latin America relations

{{See also|Indian Latin Americans|Portuguese India}}

Before India's independence in 1947, contact between India and Latin America was minimal. A few Indians came into Latin America during this time period due to the trans-pacific slave trade.{{Cite web |title=The First Asians in the Americas: A Transpacific History {{!}} Center for the Humanities at Tufts {{!}} Tufts University |url=https://humanities.tufts.edu/publications/first-asians-americas-transpacific-history |access-date=2024-05-18 |website=humanities.tufts.edu}}

In the first 50 years after India's independence, ties between India and Latin America remained minimal;{{Cite web |title=India and Latin America: Distant Acquaintance, Rhetorical Solidarity, Strategic Engagement |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/10629/chapter-abstract/158639677?redirectedFrom=fulltext |access-date=2024-05-18 |website=academic.oup.com}} India's participation in the Non-Aligned Movement and the British Commonwealth, as well as its geographical distance from Latin America,{{Cite web |last=Desai |first=Ronak D. |title=A New Era For India-Latin America Relations? |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronakdesai/2015/06/25/a-new-era-for-india-latin-america-relations/ |access-date=2024-05-18 |website=Forbes |language=en}} separated it from the region. Victor Alba argued that China's greater efforts in narrating its development efforts to the international community meant that it received far greater attention from Latin America than India by 1960.{{Cite journal |last=Ratliff |first=William E. |date=1969-02-01 |title=Chinese Communist Cultural Diplomacy toward Latin America, 1949-1960 |url=https://doi.org/10.1215/00182168-49.1.53 |journal=Hispanic American Historical Review |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=53–79 |doi=10.1215/00182168-49.1.53 |issn=0018-2168}} As recently as 1992, Indo-LAC (Latin America and the Caribbean) trade was worth less than $500 million.{{Cite web |title=India and Latin America Trade - Economic Ties Latin America and India |url=https://www.americasquarterly.org/fulltextarticle/the-other-bric-in-latin-america-india/ |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=Americas Quarterly |language=en-US}} In addition, there were a few instances where Latin American countries had tensions with India, such as when Argentina and Ecuador had disagreements on India's territorial integrity.

However, India did provide support in UN votes to Latin American countries in their conflicts with America, resulting in reciprocal support,{{cite journal |last1=Ross |first1=Cesar |title=India, Latin America, and the Caribbean during the Cold War |journal=Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional |date=December 2013 |volume=56 |issue=2 |pages=23–44 |doi=10.1590/S0034-73292013000200002 |doi-access=free }} and the Indian diaspora in LAC (such as the Indo-Caribbeans) was one of the factors providing a connection between India and Latin America throughout this time.{{Cite web |last=Krishnankutty |first=Pia |date=2023-11-27 |title=How India is boosting its strategic & economic ties with distant Latin America, Caribbean |url=https://theprint.in/diplomacy/how-india-is-boosting-its-strategic-economic-ties-with-distant-latin-america-caribbean/1859779/ |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=ThePrint |language=en-US}}

In the 21st century, India-Latin America relations have increased significantly.{{cite journal |last1=Domínguez |first1=Jorge I. |title=India-Latin America Relations, 2000-22: Their Encounter and Shared Gains |journal=Diplomacy & Statecraft |date=2 October 2023 |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=777–799 |doi=10.1080/09592296.2023.2270318 }} In 1996, as India and Latin America were taking steps to liberalize their economies, India started a "Focus LAC" policy.{{cite journal |last1=Katju |first1=Vivek |last2=Viswanathan |first2=R |last3=Heine |first3=Jorge |title=Latin America and the Caribbean: next step for India |journal=Indian Foreign Affairs Journal |volume=6 |issue=1 |date=2011 |pages=1–27 |id={{ProQuest|906073007}} |url=http://www.associationdiplomats.org/publications/ifaj/Vol6/6.1/DEBATE.pdf }} In recent years, India has sought to improve relations with Latin America as part of its overall desire to be a leader on the world stage.{{cite report |last1=Seshasayee |first1=Hari |title=Redrawing India-Latin America Relations in the 21st Century |url=https://www.orfonline.org/public/uploads/posts/pdf/20240413152449.pdf |date=19 April 2023 }} Latin America for its part has sought stronger ties with India as it has moved from a Western-oriented foreign policy in previous centuries to a more multipolar approach.{{Cite web |title=India vs. China in Latin America: Competing Actors or in Separate Leagues? |url=https://thediplomat.com/2022/05/india-vs-china-in-latin-america-competing-actors-or-in-separate-leagues/ |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=thediplomat.com |language=en-US}} In 2012, the first India-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) summit was hosted in New Delhi.{{cite report |last1=Destradi |first1=Sandra |last2=Küssner |first2=Eva |title=Go South! India 'Discovers': Africa and Latin America |date=2013 |url=https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-338230 }}

File:India Gujarat locator map.svg{{Cite book |last=Roett |first=Riordan |url=https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=xUzDCQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA37 |title=Latin America and the Asian Giants: Evolving Ties with China and India |last2=Paz |first2=Guadalupe |date=2016-09-27 |publisher=Brookings Institution Press |isbn=978-0-8157-2697-5 |language=en}}]]

India-Latin American trade peaked at $50 billion in 2022, and is projected to reach $100 billion by 2027.{{Cite web |title='India from Latin America' takes a fresh look at India's economic development |url=https://www.theweek.in/review/books/2022/12/14/india-from-latin-america-takes-a-fresh-look-at-indias-economic-development.html |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=The Week |language=en}} Latin America receives 1/3rd of India's car exports,{{Cite web |title=Record trade of Latin America with India, but mainly commodities for industrial goods |url=https://en.mercopress.com/2023/05/27/record-trade-of-latin-america-with-india-but-mainly-commodities-for-industrial-goods |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=MercoPress |language=en}} while India seeks energy and food security through Latin America,{{Cite web |date=2023-04-19 |title=Latin America and India add value to each other in business and beyond… |url=https://www.financialexpress.com/business/defence-latin-america-and-india-add-value-to-each-other-in-business-and-beyond-3054172/ |access-date=2024-05-18 |website=Financialexpress |language=en}} with half of Latin America's exports to India being commodity-based.{{Cite book |last=Destradi |first=Sandra |url=https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/handle/document/33823 |title=Go South! India “Discovers”: Africa and Latin America |last2=Küssner |first2=Eva |date=2013 |publisher=GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies - Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien |series=GIGA Focus International Edition |volume=4 |location=Hamburg |language=en}} Weak transport capability and above-average tariffs are said to be significant factors holding India-Latin America trade back.{{Cite web |title=IDB {{!}} New IDB study calls for more trade, cooperation between India and Latin America |url=https://www.iadb.org/en/news/new-idb-study-calls-more-trade-cooperation-between-india-and-latin-america |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=www.iadb.org |language=en}}

India signed a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with Mercosur in 2004.{{Cite web |last=Mishra |first=Shashank Mattoo,Ravi Dutta |date=2023-04-13 |title=India, Latin America in talks to expand preferential trade agreement |url=https://www.livemint.com/news/world/india-in-talks-to-expand-preferential-trade-agreement-with-mercosur-bloc-in-latin-america-boosting-economic-ties-with-a-combined-gdp-of-1-9tn-and-295mn-people-india-mercosur-tradeagreement-economicdiplomacy-11681408281748.html |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=mint |language=en}} Peru, Chile and Colombia have expressed interest in signing or have expanded their PTAs with India in recent decades.{{Cite web |title=India and Latin America: Where ignorance is not bliss |url=https://www.orfonline.org/research/india-and-latin-america-where-ignorance-is-not-bliss |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=orfonline.org |language=en}}

India and China are sometimes analyzed as competing for engagement with Latin America;{{Cite web |title=Latin America and the Asian Giants |url=https://www.brookings.edu/books/latin-america-and-the-asian-giants/ |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=Brookings |language=en-US}}{{Citation |last=Hussain |first=Imtiaz |title=Asia, Latin America, and Globalization: Close Encounters of a Third Kind? |date=2019 |work=South Asia in Global Power Rivalry: Inside-out Appraisals from Bangladesh |pages=213–240 |editor-last=Hussain |editor-first=Imtiaz |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7240-7_9 |access-date=2024-07-05 |place=Singapore |publisher=Springer |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-981-13-7240-7_9 |isbn=978-981-13-7240-7|url-access=subscription }} Indian FDI in the region is around $12-16 billion, while Chinese FDI is worth $159 billion,{{Cite web |title=What's Ahead for India and Latin America? |url=https://www.americasquarterly.org/article/whats-ahead-for-india-and-latin-america/ |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=Americas Quarterly |language=en-US}} with the Chinese having had a longer involvement in the region.{{Cite book |last=Paladini |first=Stefania |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781317333838 |title=Asian Worlds in Latin America |date=2015-12-22 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-33383-8 |edition=0 |language=en |doi=10.4324/9781315659367}}

There has been a rise in films being exchanged between the two sides, with some actors participating in transnational cinema, such as Barbara Mori in Kites. A greater number of Latin American actors have also begun applying for Indian visas to act in Bollywood films.{{Cite web |title=India and Latin America: a new perception and a new partnership |url=https://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/en/analyses/india-and-latin-america-a-new-perception-and-a-new-partnership/ |access-date=2024-10-27 |website=Elcano Royal Institute |language=en-US}}

At the turn of the postcolonial era, literary exchanges occurred, with Indian writers such as Rabindranath Tagore and Latin Americans such as Victoria Ocampo being read by the other side; Octavio Paz, a Mexican ambassador to India in the 1960s, played a significant role in initiating these ties.{{Cite web |title=What Indian Poets Imagined Latin American Literature Could Do {{!}} Department of English |url=https://english.stanford.edu/events/featured-speaker-series/what-indian-poets-imagined-latin-american-literature-could-do |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=english.stanford.edu |language=en}} Malayalam literature in particular has absorbed Latin American influences.{{Cite web |last=Raveendran |first=P. P. |date=2023-04-15 |title=How Latin American fiction influenced India’s ‘magical and fabulous’ literary mind |url=https://theprint.in/pageturner/excerpt/how-latin-american-fiction-influenced-indias-magical-and-fabulous-literary-mind/1520056/ |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=ThePrint |language=en-US}}

{{See also|Street cricket#History}}

Kerala and West Bengal, which share characteristics with Latin America such as left-leaning politics, are known for passionately supporting Latin American football teams.{{Cite journal |last=Romeu Aguiar |first=Ana Raquel |date=2024-08-17 |title=‘Our team will definitely win the cup’: the Keralan support of Brazil and Argentina during Men’s World Cup 2022 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14660970.2024.2332095 |journal=Soccer & Society |language=en |volume=25 |issue=4-6 |pages=722–736 |doi=10.1080/14660970.2024.2332095 |issn=1466-0970|hdl=10400.14/44476 |hdl-access=free }}{{Cite news |title=Fandom battle beyond Brazil |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/fandom-battle-beyond-brazil/cid/1290031 |work=Telegraph India}}

In the 2000s, Cuba had been considering making cricket its national sport for diplomatic purposes, despite having much more heritage in baseball; India and other Commonwealth nations were encouraging this move.{{Cite news |last=Campbell |first=Duncan |date=2007-12-21 |title=Cuban cricket team caught out by US ban |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/dec/21/cuba.usa |access-date=2025-02-16 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

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• [https://www.icwa.in/pdfs/SHPIndiaLatinAmericaRelations.pdf INDIA AND LATIN AMERICA RELATIONS Understanding the SICA]

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