India is in talks with Latin American countries such as Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Peru to increase its trade footprint in the global south, according to Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal.
The country would be looking at two models of cooperation via a joint economic and trade cooperation and a free trade agreement, Barthwal said on Friday on the sidelines of the 9th CII India-Latin American and Caribbean Conclave in New Delhi.
He called for close cooperation between India and the LAC region on issues in the World Trade Organisation's 13th ministerial conference that is scheduled to take place next February.
Barthwal highlighted that there was a huge potential to grow trade as India constituted less than 2% of LAC imports. "India is looking to double its trade from almost $50 billion to $100 billion."
The Commerce Secretary said there is need for greater free trade. "We are looking at LAC and seeing what kind of cooperation model and FTA models we can adopt."
Barthwal highlighted the need for closer India-LAC cooperation in the area of energy transition. "Fresh thinking is called for in areas like renewals, battery manufacturing, energy storage technology, chemical industry impact ... that are aligned with the net-zero goal."
India's export trade with the Latin American region from April 2022 to May 2023 came to $17.7 billion, and consisted of mostly mineral fuels, vehicles, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. It accounted for a 3.92% share of the country's overall exports.
The import trade with the Latin American region for the same period stood at $21.92 billion—or 3% of the total share of imports—on the back of natural and cultured pearls, semi-precious stones, animal oils/vegetable fats and others.
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