Despite the colonial past and cultural affinity with the West Indies, Indira Gandhi’s hasty visit to eight South American countries in 1969, and political flirtations with Cuba and Mexico during the Cold War, relations between India and Latin America and the Caribbean were cordial but limited for most of the 20th century.Cordial as diplomats from both sides coincided across multilateral platforms in a bipolar system in which they were second-class guests. Limited in terms of geographical distance, language barrier and mutual absence in history classes and textbooks at schools.
However, the new realities of global society are an ideal scenario for India’s rapprochement with the Latin American region at the dawn of this new twenty-first century. A multi-polar and interdependent system in which democracy and free market economy prevail, opens up endless opportunities for both regions to embark on a beneficial and long-term collaboration. But where can we start building this new relationship? What should be the foundations of this new agenda?
One of the pillars is the thematic diversification. In the last twenty years, a growing economic exchange between both regions has emerged. This economic relationship revolves around two specific areas: (i) foreign direct investment, mainly by Indian private companies in the Latin region such as Mahindra Tech, Bajaj, CIPLA, TELCO, UPL, among others (ii) trade where in India exports capital goods such as motorcycles, automobiles, pharmaceuticals and information technology, while Latin America exports raw materials that include mainly oil, fuels and metals.
Although economic exchange has benefited both parties, there seems to exist an asymmetrical relationship between both partners, since Latin America ends up being a tax haven for Indian investment and a raw materials supplier, primarily of oil.
It is therefore essential to diversify the topics on the agenda, moving beyond investment and trade.Both blocks can exchange knowledge, experiences and human resources on a wide range of issues. For instance, due to the higher level of human development compared to its peers in the developing world, Latin America can share some expertise on issues such as poverty alleviation, universal provision of high-quality health and education as well as infrastructure and public services development. In turn, India’s progress on issues such as entrepreneurship, pharmaceutical sovereignty, IT development, renewable energy and teaching English as a foreign language can be very beneficial for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Similarly, it is worth adding other issues of engagement to the agenda that enable a better understanding of both sides: promotion of tourism, the flexibilization of migration policies, scientific and educational exchange as well as dissemination of arts and culture.
However, this thematic diversification entails new forms of interaction; and the diversification of mechanisms is hence, another cornerstone of this new partnership. Traditionally, both regions have interwoven in official political platforms: either multilateral fora led by industrialized countries or a limited number of high-level state visits and bilateral cooperation agreements in recent years. These are no more than mere handshakes and political declarations.
However, it is necessary to promote new collaboration mechanisms, far more technical, transcending the political sphere and in tune with thematic diversification.South-South cooperation, triangular cooperation, brain circulation and scientific/educational collaboration play a leading role in this regard. These mechanisms bring civil society stakeholders, identify common issues, share experiences on new platforms, and provide solutions to local problems in similar contexts.
Cultural diplomacy deserves particular consideration, as it is beneficial to bring our societies closer and gain knowledge through their cultural, artistic and historical expressions of each other.Overcoming Western culture stereotypes such as Latin American drug traffickers, footballers and slaves, as well as Indian barefoot children, snake charmers, fakirs and untouchables is a task of paramount importance in building this new partnership.
In short, India, Latin America and the Caribbean can explore new prospects to forge a closer relationship in this new millennium. Without a doubt, topic and scheme diversification are both fundamental drivers in this new scheme of interaction between both sides.The emergence of a revamped Indo-Latin relationship can go beyond the limited economic cooperation and cordial political interaction, full of good intentions but with a total ignorance of their peoples.
Juan Hernandez
April 15, 2019
source https://indiaoutbound.org/possibilities-of-a-new-way-forward-for-indo-latino-relations/
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