Embassy of India
Buenos Aires
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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 10-member Parliamentary delegation led by Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs & Coal and Mines, Mr. Pralhad Joshi, visited Uruguay 14-17 June 2023. Earlier, a parliamentary delegation from India had visited Uruguay in 2012 and a Parliamentary delegation from Uruguay visited India in 2010.
5. Foreign Office Consultations have been institutionalized between the two countries through an Agreement signed in 1999. The fifth round of FOCs was held in March 2023 in New Delhi for which Deputy Foreign Nicolás Albertoni visited India and also met Ministers of External Affairs and Commerce & Industry.
6. Four young political leaders from Uruguay participated in the third edition of ICCR’s Gen-Next Democracy Program in July 2022.
Economic and Commercial Relations
7. India-Uruguay commercial relationship has seen a gradual strengthening and diversification. During the year 2022, bilateral trade between the two countries was USD 360 million, with Indian exports at USD 265 million and Uruguayan exports at USD 95 million (Source: Datamyne). Plastics, petroleum oils, vehicles, auto-parts and organic chemicals are the main items of export from India to Uruguay. Timber, shorn wool, edible oils, iron & steel casings and tubes and inorganic chemicals are the main items of export from Uruguay to India.
8. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has a software development centre and regional training centre in Montevideo that employs more than 3,000 employees including 530 Indians. This was the first Indian IT in Latin America, established in 2002. Another Indo-American company, Infogain, opened its delivery center in Montevideo, in April 2022, the first in the LAC region.
Multilateral Organisations based in Uruguay
9. Uruguay hosts headquarters of MERCOSUR in Montevideo, a trade bloc of the southern LAC countries, which besides Uruguay has Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay as its members. An India-MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) was signed on 25 January 2004 and became operational in June 2009. Preferential duty (10-20 % in most cases) is given to selected Indian Products entering MERCOSUR countries and vice versa.
10. 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
11. 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 of International Yoga Day in the country have seen enthusiastic participation by Uruguayans in large numbers. Ambassador Dinesh Bhatia led the 09th IDY celebration on 18 June 2023, organized in association with Indian Cultural Association of Uruguay (ICAU) and AgNIY (Association of Yoga Institutes in Uruguay) which saw participation of more than 20 yoga schools and more than 1000 yoga enthusiasts. Earlier, the visited parliamentary delegation from India joined in the curtain raiser event of the IDY on 15 June.
12. The 7th Ayurveda Day was celebrated in Uruguay on 02 November 2022 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.
13. 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.
14. 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. In February 2011, the Uruguayan postal department issued a stamp to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.
15. During his visit in June 2023, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Pralhad Joshi interacted with members of Indian community in Montevideo. The Embassy organized an event at the premises of TCS Montevideo to commemorate the Constitution Day on 26 November 2019 with members of the Indian diaspora.
Technical and Development Co-operation
16. India offers 5 ITEC scholarships to Uruguay every year. Five (5) 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 2022, 03 ITEC slots were utilized by Uruguay. A proposal to set up an India-Uruguay Centre for Excellence in Information Technology in Montevideo is under process.
Indian Community
17. There are approximately 950 Indians living in Uruguay, out of which roughly 900 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
29 June 2023
