Embassy
of India
Buenos
Aires
*****
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
*****
10 May
2022
