The third meeting of the India-Argentina Joint Trade Committee (JTC) was held via videoconference on 20 October 2020. Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Mr. S. Suresh Kumar and Undersecretary of Multilateral and Bilateral Negotiations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship, Ambassador Carola Ramon, were respectively the Indian and Argentine Co-Chairs of the meeting. Ambassador of India to Argentina, Mr. Dinesh Bhatia also attended the meeting,along with the Charge d’Affaires of the Embassy of Argentina in India, as well as senior officials and representatives of several ministries and governmental agencies from both sides.
The JTC was institutionalized under the aegis of the Indian-Argentina Agreement on Trade signed in 1981. The first meeting of the JTC was held in New Delhi in 1984, and the second, in Buenos Aires in 1991. The third JTC meeting was thus convened after a gap of nearly three decades, against the backdrop of the excellent state of bilateral commercial relations—with a historic peak reached in the bilateral trade in FY 2019-20—as well as intensification of institutionalized dialogue between both sides since elevation of the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership in February 2019.
Both sides acknowledged the concentration of the current bilateral trade in Argentine edible oil exports to India and agreed to explore ways to diversify the trade basket and correct the trade imbalance that has traditionally been in favour of Argentina. In this regard, both sides discussed avenues to further enhance the healthy ongoing trade in the agricultural sector, as well as ways to exploit the high potential for growth in trade and investments in other sectors such as mining and minerals, conventional and non-conventional oil & gas, renewable energy, pharmaceuticals and IT. Deepening of exchanges in Yoga, Ayurveda and tourism were also discussed.
Issues hindering the bilateral trade were addressed in detail and both sides reaffirmed their commitment to facilitate smoother bilateral trade and investment flows through continued and enhanced engagement. Both sides also discussed and reviewed the implementation of existing bilateral agreements and those under negotiation.
Views were exchanged on ways to enhance India-MERCOSUR trade. Both sides also reaffirmed their desire to continue their robust cooperation on relevant multilateral fora, such as G-20 and WTO.
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20 October 2020
