Jaishankar to travel to Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay; inaugurate Indian mission in capital Asuncion

With a renewed focus on South America, External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr S Jaishankar will travel to three key countries in the region—Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay later this month.

In Paraguay, Jaishankar will inaugurate India's new embassy in the capital Asuncion likely on August 22. The Indian government in 2020 had given approval for the opening of three Indian missions, which also included Paraguay, by 2021.

This was followed by the minister’s announcement of appointing Yogeshwar Sangwan as the first Indian Ambassador to the country.

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Earlier, India's Embassy in Argentina was concurrently accredited to Paraguay even though diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1961. The last major visit to the South American country from India was by the then Indian vice president M Venkaiah Naidu in 2019.

The country has joined the International Solar Alliance and according to government estimates, around 600 Indians live in Paraguay, mainly in Ciudad del Este, a city in the south-east on the border with Brazil and Argentina.

The visit to Argentina comes even as both Jaishankar and Argentinian Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero met two times this year. First in Delhi during the latter's bilateral visit and then in Bali on the sidelines of G20 foreign ministers' visit.

Important to remember that Argentina is keen to join the BRICS group and has discussed the matter with New Delhi.

Speaking to WION last month, Argentina's envoy to Delhi Hugo Javier Gobbi said that "India has been very receptive” of their request and added that the matter was discussed between the two foreign ministers in Bali and Delhi.

The visit also includes the joint commission meet in Brazil. Notably, Brazil like India is a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Both are also members of the IBSA, BRICS and G4 groupings. G4 countries have been pushing for UNSC reforms to reflect the contemporary world but have received opposition from China and its allies like Pakistan.

And not just South America, the focus will also be on North America as well. On August 28, India’s Lok Sabha (Lower House) speaker Om Birla will be travelling to Mexico with a large delegation.

High level engagements have significantly increased between Mexico and India. Mexican foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard was in Delhi in March and was accompanied by a large business delegation.

Both Indian and Mexican foreign ministers held talks on the sidelines of G20 Foreign Ministers meet in Bali last month. Currently, Mexico is India’s second largest trade partner in Latin America and is a non-permanent member of UNSC alongside India for the period 2021-22.

Birla is also expected to travel to Suriname—a Girmitiya country which has strong Indian roots. The countries in the Pacific and the Caribbean are calledGirmitiya countries.

The Indentured labourers from India were taken to various countries in the Pacific and the Caribbean—known as Girmitiya countries—by the British colonial rulers to work in plantations. These people, though have assimilated with the locals, continue to have strong culture and language links with India.

Over 2,30,000 Persons of Indian origin hailing from eastern Utter Pradesh and Bihar and some 50 Sindhi families living in Suriname have contributed significantly to the country's economy, culture, and politics.