About Us India and Uruguay

Embassy of India

Buenos Aires

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BRIEF ON INDIA-URUGUAY BILATERAL RELATIONS

 

Political Relations  

The Embassy of India in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is concurrently accredited to Uruguay. Diplomatic relations between India and Uruguay were established in 1960. Uruguay has an Embassy in New Delhi and an Honorary Consulate in Mumbai. 

 

Bilateral Interactions 

2.         The then Prime Minister of India Ms. Indira Gandhi visited Uruguay in 1968. The then Vice Presidents of Uruguay, Mr. Danilo Angel Astori Saragosa, and Dr. Hugo Fernandez Faingold visited India in 2011 and 1999 respectively. 

3.         Ministerial level interactions and visits between the two countries have taken place from time to time. External Affairs Minister (EAM), Dr. S. Jaishankar, held a telephonic conversation with the then Uruguayan Foreign Minister Mr. Ernesto Talvi on 29 April 2020, and discussed issues on the bilateral agenda, as well as cooperation during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, Minister of Women and Child Development visited Uruguay and called on the Vice President of Uruguay, Ms. Lucia Topolansky on 16 November 2017. Foreign Minister of Uruguay, Mr. Rodolfo Nin Novoa visited India in October 2015 with a commercial delegation to participate in the India-LAC Conclave and also met External Affairs Minister and Commerce and Industry Minister.  

4.         A Uruguayan Parliamentary Delegation visited India in 2010 and an Indian Parliamentary Delegation visited Uruguay in 2012. 

5.         Foreign Office Consultations have been institutionalized between the two countries through an Agreement signed in 1999. The fourth round of FOCs was held in November 2021 in Montevideo.

 

Economic and Commercial Relations  

6.            For the fiscal year 2021-22, the India-Uruguay bilateral trade was USD 312.12 million, with Indian exports at USD 150.73 million and Uruguayan exports at USD 161.49 million. Timber, shorn wool, edible oils, iron & steel casings and tubes and inorganic chemicals are the main exports of Uruguay to India and plastics, petroleum oils, vehicles, auto-parts and organic chemicals are the main Indian exports to Uruguay.  

7.            Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has established a software development centre and regional training centre in Montevideo that has over 1600 employees including 475 Indians. This was the first IT Centre opened by TCS in Latin America. 

 

Multilateral Organisations based in Uruguay  

8.            Uruguay is a member of the trade bloc MERCOSUR, currently also composed of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, and headquartered in Montevideo.  An India-MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) was concluded 25 January 2004 and became operational in June 2009. Preferential duty (10-20 % in most cases) is given to certain Indian Products entering MERCOSUR countries and vice versa.  

9.            Ambassador of India Shri Dinesh Bhatia delivered an address on “India on the International Stage and its Relations with Latin America: Commercial, Economic Challenges and Opportunities” via VC on 21 July 2020 at the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI) as part of a series initiated by ALADI wherein Ambassadors of Asian countries accredited to Uruguay are invited to interact with diplomatic representatives of the 13 ALADI Member States.

 

Cultural Relations  

10.         Yoga and meditation are popular in Uruguay. There are several hundred followers of Sai Baba, ISKCON, Art of Living, Brahma Kumaris and other Indian yoga and spiritual groups. All editions to date of the International Yoga Day in the country have seen enthusiastic participation by Uruguayans in large numbers. The 6th Ayurveda Day was celebrated in Uruguay on 02 November 2021 i.e on Dhanvantari Jayanti in collaboration with Asociacion Uruguaya de Medicina Ayurvedica (AUMA), a non-profit organization formed with the objective of promoting the knowledge of Ayurveda in Uruguay. A seven-member Kuttiyattam troupe led by Mr. Sooraj Nambiar of SNA Kuttiyattam Kendra gave performances in Uruguay in March 2018. An Odissi performance was organized in Montevideo in March 2015. A mini-Festival of India was organized in Montevideo in 2009. In February 2011, the Uruguayan postal department issued a stamp to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.  

11.         As part of Gandhi@150 celebrations, a commemorative stamp and a philatelic sheet on Mahatma Gandhi was launched in Montevideo on 27 November 2019 at the premises of the Uruguayan Foreign Ministry. The Embassy of India in Buenos Aires organized an event at the premises of TCS Montevideo to commemorate the Constitution Day on 26 November 2019 with members of the Indian diaspora in Uruguay.

 

Technical and Development Co-operation  

12.         India offers 5 ITEC scholarships to Uruguay every year. Four (4) diplomats from Uruguay have attended various editions of the Professional Course for Foreign Diplomats at the Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service in New Delhi. In 2021, 03 e-ITEC slots were utilized by Uruguay. There is a proposal to set up an India-Uruguay Centre for Excellence in Information Technology in Montevideo. 

 

Indian Community  

13.         There are approximately 600 Indians living in Uruguay, out of which roughly 570 are NRIs, most of whom are employees of TCS and reside in Montevideo. 

 

Useful links 

Embassy’s website: www.indembarg.gov.in

Facebook: www.facebook.com/IndiaInArgentina

Twitter: www.twitter.com/Indembarg

Instagram: www.instagram/indembarg

  

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10 May 2022