By IANS
Buenos Aires : India and Argentina are set to enhance their growing business ties with Buenos Aires announcing the opening of its consulate in Mumbai soon.
In a sign of new chemistry between the two countries, separated by vast distances, a new office of the Indian embassy was opened Wednesday in the Argentine capital during the three-day visit of Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma.
Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Enrique Taiana went beyond protocol and attended the inauguration ceremony along with Sharma.
Underlining the growing importance of India for Argentine exports, Taiana expressed his government’s desire to upgrade bilateral relations with India and announced the opening of an Argentine consulate in Mumbai within the next few weeks.
Sharma called for revitalization of the bilateral relations and strengthening of cooperation in diverse areas, including agriculture, science and technology and culture.
He also recalled the intellectual and cultural interaction initiated by Rabindranath Tagore over decades ago – he visited Argentina in 1922 – and called for taking ties between the two countries to a new level. Sharma extended an invitation to new Argentinian President Cristina Kirchner to visit India.
R. Viswanathan, India’s ambassador to Argentina and a self-confessed admirer of Latino culture, underscored “a new paradigm of long-term partnership” evolving between India and Argentina, which was based on their core competencies and competitive strengths in different economic areas.
Bilateral trade is growing and touched $ 1.3 billion last year. Nine Indian companies have made investments and joint ventures in Argentina amounting to $800 million in IT, steel, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
India is seen as an emerging knowledge power and a proven leader in IT in Argentina. Over 700 Argentine staff are employed by Indian IT companies in software development, BPO and KPO operations.
Tata Motors have formed a joint venture with Fiat to produce vehicles in Argentina. More and more Indian companies are showing interest in investing in Argentina in agribusiness, minerals, petroleum and pharmaceuticals.