Transcript of Special Briefing by MEA on State Visit of President of Paraguay to India (June 02, 2025)
India - Ministry of External Affairs
June 02, 2025
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: I welcome you to this special press briefing by Secretary Shri P. Kumaran, Secretary (East), on the ongoing State Visit of the President of Paraguay to India. We are also joined by Shri Praphullachandra Sharma, who is the Joint Secretary looking after Paraguay in Latin American countries, as also our Ambassador-designate to Paraguay, Shri Piyush Singh. With that, I hand over the floor to Secretary, Sir, to take you forward with this briefing.
Sir, the floor is yours.
Shri P. Kumaran, Secretary (East): Thank you, Randhir. Dear friends, thank you very much. Thank you for joining us for this briefing on the State Visit of the President of Paraguay, His Excellency Mr. Santiago Peña Palacios to India.
As we announced earlier, and as most of you are aware, at the invitation of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the President of Paraguay, His Excellency Mr. Santiago Peña Palacios is on a State Visit to India from 2nd to 4th of June 2025. This is the first visit of President Peña to India, and it is only the second visit by a President of Paraguay to India. The last visit was in 2012 by the then President.
He is accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising Ministers, Members of Parliament, Governor of a province, and senior officials. President Peña arrived in New Delhi this morning. He was received at the airport by accompanying Minister Shri Harsh Malhotra, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs. He was accorded a ceremonial guard of honour and a cultural welcome at Palam Air Force Station. President Peña's State Visit commenced with a courtesy call on him by the External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar.
President Peña then visited Rajghat, where he paid his tribute at the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi, and then arrived at Hyderabad House for the meeting with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. The two leaders held a comprehensive discussion on the entire spectrum of bilateral relations, including trade and investment, health and pharmaceuticals, defense and security, infrastructure, mining and mineral resources, agriculture and food security, green energy, ICT, digitalization, innovation, disaster management, science and technology, education, and people-to-people links. Later this evening, President Peña is scheduled to meet Hon'ble Rashtrapatiji Smt Droupadi Murmu, who will be hosting a banquet in his honour.
As you may know, friends, India and Paraguay established diplomatic relations in September 1961, and have since enjoyed warm and friendly ties. The bilateral relationship was expanded steadily with growing cooperation in sectors such as trade, agriculture, health, pharmaceuticals and information technology.
Paraguay is a growing trade partner for India in the Latin American region. Several Indian companies, particularly in the automobile, biofuel and pharmaceutical sectors have a presence in Paraguay. Likewise, Paraguayan businesses are present in India through joint ventures and representative offices in India, contributing to strengthening commercial ties between the two countries.
This visit comes soon after the barbaric terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. Prime Minister Modi expressed his deep appreciation to Paraguay for its strong condemnation of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, as well as for the sincere condolences and solidarity expressed with the people and the Government of India. Both leaders unequivocally condemned terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations. On behalf of the Paraguayan people, President Peña expressed his deep solidarity with the victims and families of the terrorist attack.
The two sides welcomed the establishment of a Joint Commission Mechanism (JCM) at the Secretary / Vice-Ministerial level. The JCM will serve as a key platform to review and advance cooperation in priority areas of mutual interest.
Recognizing India's growing global economic role, President Peña expressed keen interest in attracting Indian investments to Paraguay. He engaged with prominent Indian business leaders in Delhi. He is scheduled to travel tomorrow to Mumbai, and interact with top Indian business leaders and companies. The Indian side would be looking to collaborate with Paraguayan counterparts in a number of areas, including health and pharmaceuticals, defense, infrastructure, agriculture, renewable energy and mining. In Mumbai, the Honorable Governor and the Honorable Chief Minister of Maharashtra are expected to call on the President of Paraguay.
Trade is an important pillar of our relationship with Paraguay. Both sides wish to strengthen and expand existing trade links under the India- MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA). We will explore holding technical talks on the India-MERCOSUR PTA to enhance market access and boost bilateral and inter-regional trade. The two sides also agreed to strengthen cooperation in the space sector, including collaboration in launch services, space applications, satellite manufacturing and capacity building between the respective space ecosystems.
Dear friends, as you know, agriculture is one of the most important sectors for both the economies. Recognizing its importance, we both have agreed to work out an institutional mechanism under a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at strengthening collaboration in mutually beneficial areas of agriculture and animal farming. We also discussed enhancing cooperation in higher education, and exploring collaboration in areas such as curriculum development, teacher capacity building, infrastructure support and digital education initiatives tailored to Paraguay's interests.
India's strength in traditional medicine is well known. Both countries agreed to cooperate in promoting integrative traditional medicine, homeopathy and yoga. We also agreed to work towards official recognition of Ayurvedic pharmacopoeia of India and the Indian pharmacopoeia in Paraguay.
Let me also share with you the cooperation we have in renewable energy. India's role in Paraguay through the International Solar Alliance, particularly NTPC's work as project management consultant for the 500 MW solar park project since 2021, remains significant. Paraguay is a founding member of the Global Biofuel Alliance. Both sides work to collaborate on biofuels and green hydrogen across the entire value chain, including joint projects, technology transfer and standards harmonization. India also offered technical consultancy services to Paraguay in the oil and gas sector for mutual benefit.
India and Paraguay have worked closely together in multilateral forums, including the United Nations, and maintain close convergence on issues of global importance. During today's meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Peña, both countries expressed their willingness to continue working together on matters of common interest in various multilateral organizations, including the United Nations. India sought the support of Paraguay for India's candidature for a UN Security Council non-permanent seat for the period 2028-29.
To conclude, President Pena's visit is expected to, number one, enhance high-level bilateral political engagement, and number two, strengthen trade, commerce and investments, and also unlock new avenues of strategic collaboration in critical minerals, space technology, artificial intelligence and other emerging domains, while providing a strong impetus to trade and investment relations.
President Peña invited Prime Minister to visit Paraguay and PM has accepted the invitation. We will work on the possibilities of a visit at an early, mutually convenient date.
Thank you very much.
Huma Siddiqui, StratNews Global: Sir I am Huma Siddiqui, from StratNews Global. I have two questions. One, did the two sides talk about the accession of India to Inter-American Development Bank, one. My second question is about the MERCOSUR talks. The expansion of MERCOSUR has been going on for a while, and it's getting delayed. So when is the next round of negotiations going to take place? And my third question is, in the defense sector, you mentioned that Paraguay has expressed interest. So anything specific that they're looking for?
Sidhant, WION: Hi sir, Sidhant from WION. I believe this is the second high-level visit from Latin America to India after the Chilean president's visit. So what's India's broader overview in terms of relationship with the Latin American countries? My second question is, India and Paraguay, the convergences on reforming the United Nations Security Council, if you can perhaps elaborate on that, given that both countries are part of the Global South.
Keshav Padmanabhan, The Print: Thank you, sir, Keshav Padmanabhan from ThePrint. I just wanted to talk about agricultural cooperation, because you said that this was discussed. So, this idea of contract farming, that we've had agreements with other countries. So are we looking at any specific forms of cooperation with Paraguay in particular? Was that sort of discussed during this visit? Thank you.
Shri P. Kumaran, Secretary (East): Thank you for your question, Huma, on the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). There was no specific discussion on India's accession to the IADB. That's an idea that is being discussed within the Ministry, but there was no opportunity to discuss this during this visit.
MERCOSUR-India Preferential Trade Agreement. Yes, we have a serious interest in expanding the scope and reach in terms of the range of products that the PTA deals with. But before we do that, a certain consensus has to be built up between the five members of the MERCOSUR. We are talking to all the partners in the MERCOSUR region. What we need to do is also to agree on the terms of reference for those discussions and then take it forward. Clearly, the next step is to try and get all the members of the MERCOSUR on the same page on what exactly we want to discuss, and how we want to take forward the expansion project for the PTA.
Defence cooperation, yes. For many years now, the sense we got is that Paraguay has not focused on a particularly expansive defense expenditure. In recent years, I believe they are focusing on expanding their defense capabilities, purchasing more defense hardware, etc. The general sense we get from Paraguay and also other South American partners is that they live in a neighborhood that is very different from ours, and therefore their priority according to defense has been very, very different from the kind of priority we would accord.
But, Paraguay has several large inland waterways and it also touches several other South American countries. So they are talking about enhancing their capabilities, particularly for law enforcement to try and deal with transnational crimes, narcotics smuggling, people smuggling, etc. So that seems to be their logic driving their acquisition of defense hardware, mainly law enforcement.
On Sidhant's question about Latin America in general, the overall logic driving our expansion of footprint in Latin America in terms of opportunities for trade and investment is that the region seems to have received less attention in the past, and it's a huge opportunity. There are many, many areas where Latin American countries have shown interest in working with us. I did list out a number of them in my Opening Remarks. The President of Paraguay himself identified expansion of trade and investment. Paraguay has mineral resources, including some critical minerals, uranium and lithium.
They are a large agricultural country, apparently 40% of their land is forests. 12% of their GDP comes from agriculture. They have huge reserves of fresh water, given that most of their borders are on the basis of rivers. They produce hydroelectricity much more than what they require. About 50% of that is exported, apparently, to Brazil and Argentina.
The President highlighted during his talks today with our prime minister that they produce food for 10 times their population. Their population is about 7 million, but they produce more food than what 70 million people would require and therefore they are a big food exporting country. We do buy soybean oil from them and they are also willing to work with us on any other agricultural product that we would like to buy from them or partner with them for.
In terms of broader areas that are of interest in Latin America as a whole, we talk about our IT strengths. A number of South American countries are eager to partner with us to take advantage of our strengths in IT, digitalization and innovation, our IndiaStack products, UPI, UID and so on. There is a lot of interest.
One of the points that was discussed today in our talks was the AgriStack. As a large agricultural country, the use of digital platforms to make agriculture more efficient, try and generate data that can be used to drive decision-making is of great interest to the Paraguayan side. Disaster management is another area where we are willing to partner with them. Science and technology, education and of course people-to-people links.
Paraguay prides itself on its civilizational heritage. The Prime Minister had a chance to talk to the President about this and President Peña, of course, says that India is a big priority for him because he admires India's civilization and would like to have stronger links in terms of people-to-people links with India during the course of his presidency.
UNSC reform. Paraguay very strongly supports UN Security Council reform, and indeed reform of other multilateral institutions including financial institutions. They feel that India is a very deserving country when it comes to the kind of reform that we are working for and we expect to drive. So they are very happy to work with us in any possible way to push for reform in a way that reflects the realities of the 21st century.
Agricultural cooperation, I just mentioned, that's probably the set of issues that pushes us forward on agricultural cooperation.
Vijai Laxmi, India TV: Sir aapne homeopathy aur ayurvedic ke kshetra mein sajhedari ki baat ki. Agar us par bata sake ki kis tarah ki sajhedari sambhav hai, kya research ke areas mein ya kisi aur tarah ki sajhedari sambhav.
[Approximate Translation: Question in Hindi: Sir, you spoke about partnership in the fields of homeopathy and Ayurveda. If you could elaborate on that — what kind of partnership is possible? Is it in the area of research, or is some other form of collaboration possible?]
Huma Siddiqui, StratNews Global: Sir, you mentioned about Paraguay expressing interest in the space sector. Could you please elaborate on what kind of satellites? Are they looking for mini-satellites? Because I remember they are looking for best practices from India. So if you can just...
Neeraj Kumar Dubey, Prabha Sakshi: Sir main Neeraj Dubey Prabha Sakshi se. Jaisa ki aapne apni tippani mein kaha bhi ki Bharat aur Paraguay ne jo sangathit apradh hai cyber apradh hai aur jo atankwad wagar se milkar ladne ka nirnay liya to iske liye kya koi sanyukt rup se tantr banaya gaya hai.
[Approximate Translation: Question in Hindi: Sir, I am Neeraj Dubey from Prabha Sakshi. As you mentioned in your remarks, India and Paraguay have decided to work together against organized crime, cybercrime, and terrorism. Has any joint mechanism or framework been established for this purpose?]
Dr. Awad, CNN: Thank you, sir. Dr. Awad from CNN, a journalist. Sir, my question is regarding the infrastructure investment in the ports in Latin America. There is a huge demand for Indian companies. Recently we came to know about it. Is there any movement on this front, please? Thank you.
Shri P. Kumaran, Secretary (East): I just wanted to add a couple of points on agricultural cooperation before I take this set of questions. I think I have a couple of more points to add.
Agricultural technology, food processing, sustainable farming practices, those are also areas where Paraguay wants to cooperate with us. Agricultural mechanization, use of drones, et cetera. Finding new technologies that support smart agriculture, those are also areas where they are interested.
On homeopathy and Ayurveda, it's still very early stages in the talk.
Aapne jo pucha tha kis tarah ka cooperation hai. Abhi ke liye hum isi baat ki koshish kar rahe hain ki hamara Ayurvedic pharmacopeia accept ho jaye aur Indian pharmacopeia in general accept ho jaye. Us basis pe kaafi cooperation chal sakta hai. Aur Ayurvedic products as healthcare, formal healthcare products accept ho jaye Paraguay mein uske baad hi large scale cooperation ho sakta hai. To abhi to dialogue start hui hai and aage jaake cooperation ke themes firm up honge.
[Approximate Translation: Answer in Hindi: In response to your question about the nature of cooperation — for now, we are primarily working towards the acceptance of our Ayurvedic pharmacopoeia, and more broadly, the Indian pharmacopoeia. Based on that, significant cooperation can take place. Once Ayurvedic products are formally accepted as healthcare products in Paraguay, large-scale collaboration will be possible. So, at this stage, the dialogue has just begun, and the themes of cooperation will be firmed up as we move forward.]
Space sector, and satellite collaboration. Currently, there is no Memorandum of Understanding in place between India and Paraguay for cooperation in the space sector. We are working on an MOU. Hopefully, it will fructify soon. We are still negotiating the text for an MoU focused on space sector collaboration, including on peaceful uses of outer space.
In today's discussions, the countries acknowledged Paraguay's interest in collaborating with ISRO on the development and launch of small satellites, CubeSats, using ISRO's launch vehicles. So, we need to get our technical teams of officials to expedite the finalization of these proposals and then take this forward. Paraguay also wants to work with us on capacity building of their space sector officials. Let me share that one Paraguayan officer, official, has benefited from a training program at the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing. And they look forward to more collaboration in this. So, essentially, it is various kinds of satellites, small satellites, nanosats, CubeSats, et cetera, and also benefiting from our launch vehicles and developing their own capacity in general.
Counterterrorism, cyber security, et cetera, are areas of general interest. Paraguay does not face the kind of threats that we face, like I said earlier, but they are worried about transnational crimes in their part of the world. And they want to work with us to try and benefit from our experience, and also to share expertise by working with us on capacity building. And cyber security is a part of that. They do perceive a threat from that front and therefore they want to work with us, given our strengths in IT and cyber security ... and work with us.
Infrastructure investments in ports. Before I go to that, in fact, the IT minister is calling on the President of Paraguay in the next few minutes, and he will explain to the President our capabilities in IT, DPI, (Digital Public Infrastructure), and areas where we can work with them together. There is also interest on the Paraguayan side for working with us in building railway infrastructure as part of the bi-oceanic corridor. They think that we will be able to offer value to them and also in a cost-effective manner.
They are impressed by the rate at which we build out new highways and new railway tracks. The President was also enquiring about the Vande Bharat trains. The Honorable Railway Minister would be briefing President Peña on our capabilities and our ability to cooperate with them in these areas.
On ports, as you know, Paraguay is a landlocked country, but it has large rivers that touch Paraguay and therefore, inland waterways development is a big area. In fact, they expressed interest in talking to our Ministry of Water Resources and also Chairman, Inland Waterways Authority of India. They will be discussing possibilities for cooperation with the Paraguayan side. So, hopefully we will have something more concrete once that dialogue happens.
One of the things that President Peña mentioned was that Paraguay is one of the most open economies in the MERCOSUR region and South America in general. He said, we should take advantage of the fact that it is an open economy, although the population and therefore, the market size of Paraguay is small, it is about 7 million population. They said they are adjacent to much larger markets, and given their central location in South America, it would be possible for us to use Paraguay as a launching pad to try and access other markets in the region.
So our companies would be looking at Paraguay as some kind of a staging post and therefore, look at it in a way that is a force multiplier. We already have several Indian companies that are based in Paraguay in various ways. United Phosphorus Limited has a facility that produces agrochemicals; Praj Industries produces biofuels; Aditya Birla Corporation has a trading office; and Tatas, Mahindras, Royal Enfield and Bajaj have their distributorships for their vehicles; Crompton Greaves has an office and so on. So there are companies, and of course, IT also we have some presence. So, these are all areas that offer opportunities for us, and we will be looking at expanding our presence in South America using Paraguay also as a staging post, if you will.
Manas, PTI: This is Manas from PTI. You mentioned about possible cooperation in the areas of mines and minerals and green energy. So are you looking at any kind of framework for our cooperation in these two critical sectors? And there have been also reports that Paraguay is having some friction with China in terms of Bilateral Trade. Is Paraguay looking at more imports from India? Thank you.
Shri P. Kumaran, Secretary (East): Let me take the second one first. Yes, Paraguay is the only country in South America that has diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but it also has a trading relationship with China. They do have, I am told, Chinese companies' presence in Paraguay. I believe in the field of electric vehicles, electronic goods, etc. So there is a trading relationship there.
In general, Paraguay has highly concentrated trading relationships. It's a country that has an overall trade of about ... 32 billion. Their main trading partners in terms of imports are China and Brazil, and main trading partners for exports are Argentina and Brazil. A large fraction of their trade happens with just these three countries.
So there is a general motivation to try and diversify their trade so that risks are managed better. So to that extent, yes, India has a large market and a growing economy, offers itself as a natural partner.
The President made it very clear that he would be looking at India as a big trade and investment partner. He invited Indian companies to come to Paraguay and invest in their economy, and promised to facilitate investments in a very efficient way.
Mines and minerals, you know, still early days. Paraguay itself admittedly has not developed its mineral resources as much as it has developed its water resources and agriculture. In fact, the President said they themselves are looking at developing resources under the ground in the same way that they have developed resources over the ground. And we look forward to working with them in these areas. These are of interest to us as we continue to grow and become a larger economy as we move towards more and more sustainable initiatives that require a number of critical minerals.
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: With that, thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, for your presence.
Please follow the visit of the President of Paraguay. There's a lot more coming up here in Delhi, as also in Mumbai.
Thank you.
Shri P. Kumaran, Secretary (East): Thank you very much.
New Delhi
June 02, 2025
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