I’ll always love Paraguay. It’s this most exotic place configured out of the imagination, the whole country.
—John Gimlette, travel writer

In the imagination of the average Indian, Paraguay is an exotic, faraway land, locked up in the middle of South America. Unlike Gimlette, a Britisher who crossed over from northern Argentina—where he was branding cattle at an estancia—into Paraguay at the start of the Falklands War in 1982, most Indians hardly have had a chance to make a trip to Paraguay, especially given the distance. Going forward, however, things promise to change. With more vigor being added to the ongoing economic and cultural exchanges, people-to-people contact will only increase.

Paraguay’s relevance and growing importance when it comes to India’s Latin American policy at this point in time needs to be underscored. In August 2022, India opened its mission in Asuncion, the Paraguayan capital city. It was inaugurated by India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar who also unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at the Costanera during his visit.

Diplomatic relations between these two far-off nations were established in 1961. Paraguay’s mission in New Delhi was established in 2006 and the first presidential visit from this nation took place in May 2012. This was followed by an Indian vice-presidential visit to Paraguay in March 2019. In November 2023, MoS External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi was in Paraguay where she was able to address the Indian Diaspora as well as the alumni of the ITEC (Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation) program.

In keeping with our ongoing Latin American and Caribbean coverage (please read recent interviews with the Chilean and Cuban ambassadors in New Delhi on our website www.indiaempire.com), we bring to you an exhaustive interview with Paraguay’s Ambassador to India H.E. Fleming Raul Duarte Ramos. An eminent alumnus of the Harvard Kennedy School and an economist by training, Ambassador Duarte Ramos affirms that relations between India and Paraguay are currently at their best momentum. “Over recent years, both countries have displayed a deep commitment to fostering a robust partnership, marked by high-level visits at the ministerial level, private sector leaders and an increasing exchange of trade and investment. The strengthening of diplomatic ties has further solidified the bond between our two nations, paving the way for enhanced collaboration in various fields.”

The embassy’s website says that its primary focus is on promotion of commercial diplomacy, including trade, inward investment, tourism, and country image through supporting trade missions, and establishing and facilitating contacts between business entities. Evidently, relations are poised for a new leap and the horizons at either end look quite bright.

There are many other stories in this issue of the India Empire Magazine that could be of interest to you.

Happy reading.

Sayantan Chakravarty
sayantanc@gmail.com