Transcript of Special briefing by MEA on State Visit of President of Chile (April 01, 2025)
India - Ministry of External Affairs
April 01, 2025
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Good afternoon, friends. I welcome you to this special briefing by Secretary East, Shri P. Kumaran, on the ongoing State Visit of His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Chile, Mr. Gabriel Boric Font. We also have with us for this press briefing, our Ambassador in Chile, Smt. Abhilasha Joshi, and we have with us the Joint Secretary who looks after Latin America and the Caribbean region, Shri. Prafullachandra Sharma. With that, I invite Secretary Sir to give his opening remarks. Sir, the floor is yours.
Shri P. Kumaran, Secretary (East) : Thank you, Randhir. Good afternoon, dear friends. As you are aware, at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the President of the Republic of Chile, His Excellency, Gabriel Boric Font, is on a State Visit to India from 1st to 6th April, 2025.
He arrived on 1st April, which is today, and will be departing on 6th of April after an extensive program in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. The President is accompanied by a high-powered delegation of Cabinet Ministers, Parliamentarians, senior officials, and a large business delegation. This is President Boric's first state visit to India, although two Chilean Presidents have visited India in the past.
Prior to this, President Boric had met our Prime Minister in Brazil on the margins of the G20 Summit in November 2024 in Rio. As you might know, India and Chile share warm and friendly relations. Chile was among the first countries to recognize India's independence. Since then, bilateral relations have strengthened across a number of sectors.
Our two countries have commonality of views on a wide range of issues. We cooperate extensively in multilateral fora and share similar views on expansion and reform of the United Nations Security Council. Chile has been consistent in its support to India's claim to a permanent seat in the UNSC. We recently commemorated 75 years of establishment of diplomatic relations.
Indian culture and traditions are very popular in Chile. There are a number of Yoga and Ayurveda schools and Yoga practitioners in Chile. You would be happy to know that Chile has its own National Yoga Day, which is celebrated on 4th of November. Ayurveda is also gaining popularity, as I just noted, and there are a few Ayurveda Institutes, Clinics in Chile with close ties to some Indian Ayurveda Institutes.
There is also growing interest in Indian classical dances, cuisine, films and tourism. Coming back to the visit, as I said, the President of Chile arrived in New Delhi earlier today. He was warmly received by Shri. Pabitra Margherita, Minister of State for External Affairs and was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the airport. His first engagement of the day was a call on by the External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar.
This was followed by extensive bilateral discussions with our Prime Minister and delegation. The two leaders undertook a comprehensive review of the entire gamut of bilateral relations, spanning a wide range of sectors including trade and investment, health and pharmaceuticals, mining and mineral resources, defence and security, agriculture and food security, green energy, ICT, digital economy, innovation and disaster management. The President expressed keen interest in developing cooperation in technology, innovation, cultural exchanges and academic collaboration. You will see a lot of the areas of convergence and the discussion that the two leaders had in the Joint Statement that is being issued.
The two leaders also witnessed the exchange of several bilateral documents and MOUs. The joint statement lists that out. These include the letter of intent on Antarctica cooperation, cultural exchange programme for the period 2025 - 29, agreement on co-operative matters, MOU for co-operation in the disability sector; MoU on police co-operation against organized crime, cyber crime and combating corruption; MoU on disaster management; and renewal of the amended MOU in the field of geology and mineral resources.
After this, there were press statements by the two leaders. Prime Minister then hosted a lunch in honor of the visiting President.
As is customary in a state visit, President Boric visited Rajghat and laid a wreath at the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi. He will meet Honorable Rashtrapati Ji in the evening followed by a banquet dinner hosted by the Honorable Rashtrapati Ji in honor of the visiting President and his delegation.
As I said, the President is accompanied by a large business delegation with him. Obviously, we expect many business interactions with Indian industry leaders. In fact, business events have been planned in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru on 2nd, 3rd and 5th April respectively. While in Delhi, the ministers accompanying the President will have over 25 meetings with Indian ministers and business counterparts. The MPs in the President's delegation will visit our Parliament and interact with the parliamentarians.
President Boric is expected to have official meetings in Mumbai where the Chief Minister of Maharashtra is likely to pay a courtesy call on the visiting dignitary. There will also be a meeting with the Honorable Governor of Maharashtra. In Bengaluru, President Boric will meet the Governor of Karnataka and the Chief Minister of Karnataka.
President Boric is keen to attract Indian investments into Chile. There are several opportunities for Indian businesses in the areas of ports, airports, mining, railway infrastructure, renewable energy and a number of other projects. Technology cooperation is also high on the agenda. President Boric expressed keen interest in collaboration and exchanges in the areas of education, culture, arts and cinema, Ayurveda and Yoga.
Chile, as you know, is an important partner for India in the Latin American region. We have complementary trade and economic relations with Chile. While we supply pharmaceutical products, engineering goods, automobiles and chemicals, we import a lot of critical mineral resources from Chile which are important ingredients for our industrial development.
Chile is the largest producer of copper in the world. It also has substantial reserves of lithium and other minerals. There is interest on both sides to further strengthen this relationship.
Let me give you a couple of sentences on the Indian community in Chile. The origins of the Indian community in Chile can be traced back to 1905. Currently, it is estimated that there are about 4000 overseas Indians, about 1850 NRIs and about a little over 2000 PIOs living in Chile. The majority are from the Sindhi community who are mainly engaged in business and have integrated well into Chilean society.
One third of them live in Iquique and the rest are in Santiago, Valparaiso, Viña del Mar and Punta Arenas. In addition, there is a constant flow of professionals and businessmen from India working mainly in the ICT and financial services sectors. Some Indian labor is also present in Chile, working mainly in Indian restaurants and shops.
I will stop now and I am open to any questions that you might have. Thank you very much.
Huma Siddiqui, The Financial Express: Sir I am Huma Siddiqui. I have two questions, was there any discussion on the expansion of the trade that India has with Chile. And my second question is you mentioned that they are talking about Defence and Security. So what exactly was discussed in that sector, if you can tell that?
Andres Schipani, Financial Times: Thank you, Andres Schipani, Financial Times. Sir as a Latin American myself, I am quite interested in this visit. Just to stress, if you can deepen on a point that you made, there seems to be a further outreach of Indians to Latin America. You opened more Embassies recently. Minister Margherita at the Raisina dialogue gave a speech solely on Latin America, with quite a lot of stress on critical minerals. India signed an agreement with Argentina last year. You just opened an Embassy in Bolivia, which holds the largest lithium reserves in the world. And now you have Chile's President here, whose country is part of the Lithium Triangle. How much is this visit about securing lithium and critical minerals for India's energy transition? Thank you.
Sahil Pandey, ANI: Sir, Sahil Pandey from ANI. Any update regarding or any development regarding Chile-India FTA, if there is a possibility?
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: First, let's take these three and then we'll come back for more.
Shri P. Kumaran, Secretary (East) : Thank you very much. Let me start with the FTA and CEPA. We already have a partial trade agreement with Chile, which addresses about 2,000 lines on the Chilean side and about 1,000 lines... There are concessional duties agreed on both sides. The idea is to try and expand that into a more comprehensive FTA or a comprehensive economic partnership agreement that will also include in addition to trade and goods, services and investment. Therefore, all three parts of a comprehensive economic agreement will be addressed. We just agreed in the run-up to the visit on the terms of reference of the discussions towards CEPA, and that will set the tone for the detailed discussions that will be held.
Obviously, both sides try to find a balance on how to secure their interests. Our interests, obviously, include expanding our agricultural exports, securing critical minerals. And on the Chilean side, naturally, the interest is on exporting some of their agricultural products that are not necessarily available in our market that Chile is good at producing.
There is also an interest on the Chilean side to try and diversify their trade partners to include other large emerging economies. India naturally offers itself as a very attractive option for this purpose. Therefore, the Chilean side has serious interest in working with us on a fairly comprehensive CEPA that includes concessional duties on a number of lines.
Our interest also on the Indian side includes opening up the services market in our partner countries. So that will also be an area of interest for Chile. Naturally, technology, all kinds of other business services will be areas of interest for us. Plus, both sides are interested in attracting investment. Chile wants more investments in mining, agro-processing, renewable energy, etc. We naturally, as part of our Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, want investment in a number of areas that help us develop industrial capacities and help us become a manufacturing hub. So, broadly, those are the areas that we'll target. We'll try, naturally, for both sides to strike a balance that is mutually beneficial.
Your second question was about Defense and Security. We are a country where the defense industrial capacity is continuously increasing. We are securing technology from various partner countries. We are also developing our own technologies. So, therefore, we do have an interest in expanding our defense exports. On the other hand, Chile lives in a peaceful regional neighborhood. Their defense requirements are very different from ours. But Chile has a deep interest in the defense industrial sector because it believes that it incubates a number of interesting critical technologies that can be used for other applications, including in civilian sectors. It is an area that interests us. Therefore, it offers opportunities for us to co-develop technologies and find ways to benefit on both sides from these technologies.
As I mentioned in my opening remarks, as part of security, we are also trying to work together on transnational crimes, countering transnational crimes, drug smuggling, counter-terrorism, cyber-crime and so on. Chile has very good capabilities in the information technology sector and we hope to work together and find ways to benefit from each other's expertise and experiences.
Is it mostly about critical minerals? No, it is much more than that. Clearly, given Chile's strengths in critical minerals. Chile has more than 50% exports. I think copper, 24% of the world output is out of Chile, and 30% of the world's lithium comes out of Chile. So naturally, these are priority areas for Chile, as big exports, mining contributes about 13% to Chile's GDP. And these are areas of interest to India because these are materials that are critical to developing new and emerging technologies, such as EVs, battery technologies, and all kinds of new generation batteries that can increase range, storage generated from renewables, etc.
So all these are naturally of great importance to us, but it's not just about, as I mentioned, there are many other areas, pharmaceuticals for us, and healthcare. India is one of the most competitive producers of pharmaceuticals, vaccines, etc. We also want to work with Chile in the area of renewable energy. I understand that Chile wants to expand its energy infrastructure, particularly transmission lines, etc., so that more of the country can be covered, and the renewable energy infrastructure that is available can effectively reach all sections of the population. So those are all areas which are of interest.
As I mentioned in my remarks on CEPA, trade and investment, surely. President Boric showed a lot of interest in working together on culture, films. Chile wants to promote itself as a filming destination for Indian films. In Mumbai, I think that is one of the areas that they're going to discuss. In addition, digital public infrastructure, ICT, agro-processing, all these are areas of interest. Naturally, critical minerals are a key piece in the matrix, but there are a lot of other areas of interest, too.
FTA, I think I've answered as part of my remarks here, yeah.
Rishabh Madhavendra Pratap, Times Now: Secretary good evening, Rishabh from Times Now. Sir, did we discuss anything on mobility aspect of blue collar jobs in Chile, or vice versa? Is there any mobility pact being spoken about between India and Chile?
Neeraj Kumar Dubey, Prabhasakshi: Sir, Namaskar, main Neeraj Dubey, Prabhasakshi se. Sir, jaisa ki aapne apni shuruaati tipanni zikr kiya ki Chile copper ka sabse bada utpaadak hai aur lithium ka bhandaar hai. Toh Bharat jab ki navikaraniya urja pe zor de raha hai, electric vehicles par zor de raha hai, toh us sandarbh mein khaas taur par kya samjhauta hua hai?
[Approximate Translation: Question in Hindi] Sir, Namaskar, I am Neeraj Dubey from Prabhasakshi. Sir, as you mentioned in your initial remarks that Chile is the largest producer of copper and has reserves of lithium. So, when India is emphasizing renewable energy, and electric vehicles, what specific agreements have been made in this context?
Umashankar Singh, NDTV: Umashankar NDTV se. Kya Chilean President ne Pradhan Mantri Modi ko Chile aane ka nyota diya, khastaur pe jo aap Antarctic ka Chilean part hain, usko visit ka nyota diya hain? Kya PM ne isko sweekara hain?
[Approximate Translation: Question in Hindi] Umashankar from NDTV. Has the Chilean President invited Prime Minister Modi to visit Chile, specifically to visit the Chilean part of Antarctica? Has the PM accepted this invitation?
Ayanangsha Maitra: Sir I have a pair of questions. The first is, is there some sort of arrangement for collaboration in the front of dance when it comes to Cueca dance form, and others with the Indian ones? The second one is, we have seen Chile's interest in the sphere of film, and as a shooting destination ahead of a summit in Chile as well. The Government wanted to shoot there. Is some sort of arrangement done for shooting with Indian producers as well? Thank you.
Shri P. Kumaran, Secretary (East) : Thank you very much. On the Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement, we have shared a draft agreement with the Chilean side. There are still discussions ongoing on that. But in the meantime, the Chilean side, in fact the President announced it as part of the visit ... that they are improving their visa processes in such a way as to grant more multiple entry visas. As of now, that is a big improvement in terms of the ability of our business people to visit Chile and to secure visas in a more facile and faster way. But as for the details of the migration and mobility partnership agreement, discussions are still ongoing and we hope to reach agreement at some point.
We will also, I think, have occasion to discuss this as a part of our negotiations on CEPA, because a lot of these issues get subsumed under CEPA negotiations under the services sector or the services chapter. So I am sure we get to hear more about it in coming months.
Aapne poochha tha critical minerals ke bare mein. Maine abhi comments mein batayatha ki critical minerals humareliye bahut important hain. Aapne khud point out kiya ki electric vehicle sector, battery technology sector keliye. Iske bare mein humne ek MOU sign kiya hai. Main abhi list karunga woh jo MOU humne sign kiya hain for partnership in the critical mineral sector. Toh aage hum technical teams ke level pe discuss karenge ki kaise collaborate karein aur cooperation ko aage kaise badhaya jaye.
[Approximate Translation: Answer in Hindi] You had asked about critical minerals. I had just mentioned in the comments that critical minerals are very important for us. You yourself pointed out their significance for the electric vehicle sector and battery technology sector. We have signed an MOU regarding this. I will now list the MOUs we have signed for partnership in the critical mineral sector. Going forward, we will discuss at the technical teams' level how to collaborate and how to further enhance cooperation.
On the Antarctica visit, there is a lot of interest on our side in Antarctica. Chile is very well placed geographically when it comes to Antarctica. Chile offers itself as a natural partner for us to understand Antarctica better and the challenges associated with polar regions. Obviously, we are very keen to work with Chile in the area of Antarctic research.
But to share some of what happened in the discussions, the Prime Minister had noted that President Boric had visited Antarctica last year. Therefore, he wanted him to share some of his experiences about what it feels like to travel in Antarctica. He explained in some detail his experience of traveling to Antarctica. As part of that, he said, it would be nice if you could also visit Chile sometime and undertake a visit to Antarctica. He has not said anything to that. He just smiled and thanked him for the invitation.
Critical minerals, I will just add something to what I said. Even as part of the CEPA discussions, we are looking at a chapter on critical minerals. We think that will allow us an opportunity to go into some detail on what arrangements can be worked out which are of mutual benefit to India and Chile. This will naturally involve Indian investments, possibly some kind of value addition in Chile. The Chilean side is very keen that investors come and add value in Chile before taking the refined material out of Chile. I am sure we will have occasion to discuss more about this and the terms and conditions associated with the critical minerals partnership.
Dance collaboration, yes, there was a broad discussion about cultural cooperation, dance, yoga, and also about how to take Ayurveda collaboration forward. Not too many specifics, but I am sure we will have occasion to engage at working levels to try and include more items in this regard ... dance and music.
Srinjoy: Sir, some years ago, the Indian Defense Minister had gone to Chile and part of the whole proceedings was the possibility of Chile using Indian made helicopters. Now that was a long time ago, but you are aware of it. Is there any move to relook the whole process? In fact, the RM had gone to Antarctica after that, if I am not mistaken.
Madhurendra Kumar, News Nation: Sir, Madhurendra Kumar, News Nation se. PM ke speech mein MAHASAGAR, Prashant Mahasagar Indian sector ko le kar kaafi kuch likha hai. Main jaana chahta hoon ki maritime security ko le kar kya dono deshon ke beech chintaye who saanjhi hain. Usko le kar koi baatchit hui. Aur kya aane wale dino mein dono deshon ke beech koi joint exercises, chahe navy ka ho ya phir alag sector ka ho, isko hum plan kar rahe hain?
[Approximate Translation: Question in Hindi] Sir, Madhurendra Kumar from News Nation. In the PM's speech, a lot has been written about the ocean and the Indian sector of the Pacific Ocean. I want to know whether both countries share concerns regarding maritime security. Has there been any discussion on this, and are we planning any joint exercises between the two countries in the coming days, whether in the navy or any other sector?
Akhilesh Suman, DD: Sir, I am Akhilesh Suman from DD. You talked about Prime Minister Modi and President Boric, about terrorism, anti-terrorism. So can you tell me what are the views on cross-border terrorism that you are making for our neighboring country? And also that, you know, both Prime Minister and President talked about the gateway of Antarctica. So what we aspire in Antarctica?
Sarjana Sharma, Sanmarg Newspaper: Namaskar, Sir main Sarjana Sharma hoon Sanmarg Newspaper se. Aapne critical minerals par baar-baar kafi reference aaya hain toh jo -- aur aapne kaha ki hum sabse jyada import Chile se karte hain, toh jo hamare MOUs honge unke sath who kis kism ke MOUs honge?
[Approximate Translation: Question in Hindi] Namaskar Sir, I am Sarjana Sharma from Sanmarg Newspaper. You have frequently referenced critical minerals, and you mentioned that we import the most from Chile. What kind of MoUs will we be signing with them?
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Do you have a clarification? Huma?
Huma Siddiqui, The Financial Express: Just one. Sir, in his visit to Bangalore, is he going to be visiting HAL and other defense companies which are there?
Shri P. Kumaran, Secretary (East) : All right. I think ... Srinjoy's question about helicopters ... there was no specific reference to helicopters as an item. But we broadly offered our capabilities available in various kinds of defense hardware. And there was agreement that we can work together in areas of mutual interest. But there was no specific reference to helicopters or any other kind of platform.
Maritime security and exercises, yes, there were discussions on maritime security, especially in terms of transnational crimes, piracy, etc., and sharing of experiences. But I am not aware of any joint exercises, maritime exercises, in which Chile and India are a part. But surely wherever we have an opportunity, we would look forward to working together as countries who are interested in working together in a number of sectors, and who are keen to take our relationship to a higher trajectory.
Antarctic research, you know, obviously Antarctica presents a unique set of challenges when it comes to dealing with ultra-low temperatures, how to survive in those temperatures, how to make your equipment work in those temperatures, and what do you do to harden your survival skills and your equipment to work in such conditions. Some of that can be applied to other low-temperature situations like space, etc.
So you have ... without going into space, you tend to learn about how you deal with challenges in extremely low temperatures. So it is an area of interest to a number of countries. It is an area of interest for us too, and therefore Chile, given its expertise and its proximity to the South Pole, as I noted, it is something of a natural partner for us to work with, and they have identified that as an area where we can collaborate together.
So it is something of interest to us, and we are both keen to ensure the peaceful use of Antarctica in ways that can contribute to the global commons, and therefore we are happy to work together with Chile on that.
MoUs, let me try and list out the MoUs that are the outcomes of this visit. We have a letter of intent on Antarctic cooperation, as I just mentioned. The letter of intent will enhance the value of international collaboration in the field of scientific research in areas of interest, common interest, such as the study of global environmental change, and in reaffirming the shared interest in maintaining Antarctica as a natural reserve dedicated to peace and science.
The second MoU signed is the Cultural Exchange Program for the period 2024 to 2028.
The third one is the MoU between the National Service for Disaster Prevention and Response in Chile and the NDMA in India on disaster management.
The fourth one is the Agreement for Cooperation and Exchange of Information between National Copper Corporation of Chile, CODELCO, and Hindustan Copper Limited. It will help us identify and implement joint activities, including strategic partnership in the sphere of exploration of mining properties, meaning the mines, and mineral beneficiation through sharing of experiences and knowledge, allowing both sides to enhance their capabilities.
So these are the four outcome documents that came out as a result of the visit.
[Inaudible]
I don't see anything in the program that specifically involves a visit to any of our defense establishments there or aeronautical establishments. But they are meeting groups of industry leaders, business leaders, and I'm sure they'll have occasion to interact with some of our capability, defense-related establishments too, in addition to other civilian business establishments.
I think the interest in Bangalore is mainly on innovation and start-ups and of course software services and IT in general. So those will probably be the priority as part of the Bangalore leg of the visit.
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Thank you, sir. Thank you for taking your time to brief all our friends from the media. And thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your presence.
This is a long visit, so please be in touch with us so that we keep giving you updates. Thank you very much.
Shri P. Kumaran, Secretary (East) : Thank you very much.
New Delhi
April 01, 2025
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