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Pitching for "more India" for enhanced cooperation in bilateral relations, Chile's Minister of Agriculture, Esteban Valenzuela on Wednesday said they have strong trade ties with some other countries and are working for stronger ties with India in a range of areas including agriculture and technology.
He underscored the importance of close collaboration with India and stated that Chile is interested in cementing ties across multiple sectors. Speaking to ANI, Valenzuela said, "...We have right now very strong relationship in terms of trade with the United States, Canada, North America, Europe, South American countries and also China, but we need more India because this relationship is better for both countries." He further added, saying that India produces more tractors for agriculture, which is why Chile would need this technology and machinery to build strong in the agriculture sector. "For example, Chile needs more Mahindra pickup trucks. We have a lot of Mahindra pickup trucks in the countryside, but we also need Indian tractor and electrical tractor. India produces more tractors for agriculture. We need this technology and machinery. We also need some agricultural products like bananas, mango and others. We need this trust, business, and sustainability...", he said. In terms of exports from Chile to India, Valenzuela said that the country wants to export more wine to India, and is also interested in enhancing the ties with India in the development of the rural areas there. The Agriculture Minister told ANI, "To India, we want to export more wine. Chile is the fourth exporter of wine in the world...We are also interested in improving our relationship in the development of the rural area. You have a tradition on that. We will work together with the Indian Ministry of Agriculture and Welfare of farmers...Chile is the number one producer of copper, the largest of lithium and so on, and we take money from mining and give it to the rural areas to improve networking, social issues, health, and local development." "We have to work in terms of cooperation. For example, we will create the first modern farm in terms of nut production in Jammu and Kashmir. People from Jammu and Kashmir will visit Chile next November, and then we will create the agreement...", the minister said. Notably, Chile is a key partner of India in the Latin American region. Chile has an estimated USD 2,847 billion worth of trade in 2023. Last year, India ranked 16th as a destination for Chile's non-copper and non-lithium exports, with USD 560 million in exports of goods and services, out of which 30 per cent related to foods. Chile was the first nation to have a Partial Scope Agreement (PSA) with India, in force since 2007. This agreement was extended in 2017 when India granted tariff preferences for 1,110 Chilean products. On Tuesday, Minister of State (MoS) for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, Ramnath Thakur met with Esteban Valenzuela, Chile's Minister for Agriculture, along with his delegation, for a high-level bilateral meeting held at Krishi Bhavan in the national capital. The discussions also addressed agricultural challenges in both Chile and India and explored opportunities to boost agricultural trade between the two countries. The ministers underscored the importance of sustainable practices and reaffirmed their commitment to deepening the agricultural partnership to strengthen cooperation. Chile and India agreed to work towards resolving market access issues for Indian mangoes and pomegranates, while exploring opportunities to expand trade in various agricultural products. Valenzuela also welcomed India's proposal to establish a task force to address market access and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) concerns raised by the Indian side, an official statement said. The ministers discussed the implementation of MoUs on agricultural cooperation, the horticulture action plan, and e-certification of phytosanitary certificates. Chilean Minister of Agriculture, Valenzuela, is a part of the delegation led by Chile's Foreign Minister, Alberto van Klaveren who arrived on Tuesday on a two-day official visit to India and participated in the second India-Chile Joint Commission Meeting co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Ahead of the India-Chile Joint Commission Meeting today, Klaveren said, "We hope very much that we can strengthen our mutual relations." On CEPA negotiations with India, the Chilean minister stated, "Precisely one of our objectives with respect to India is to advance to a CEPA agreement. We have already made the necessary studies for that. We have also analysed terms of reference and well we hope that the next step will be the initiation of negotiations. We know that that takes time, but we think we are confident that we're going to be successful." (ANI)
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