In early October this year Argentina’s then Foreign Minister Diana Mondino was in India, what are the major takeaways from her visit?

The idea (of the visit) was to enhance the relationship between the two countries. We have had a strategic partnership with India for the last five years, and we have important bilateral links in trade and agriculture because Argentina is the number one provider of soyabean oil and sunflower oil. We are providing lithium; there are Indian investments in lithium in Argentina. There is also a proposal of Argentina selling liquified gas, LNG, and that’s something very important.

So, the major takeaway from the former foreign minister’s visit was LNG?

The LNG proposal was during the visit of the National Oil Company (YPF — Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales) CEO Horacio Marin who was in India in September 2024. He is planning to return to India in early 2025.

I would say that the meeting between the then Minister Mondino and Minister S. Jaishankar was to renew the Argentine-India friendship on the 75th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship. It was a comprehensive agenda with regard to trade, agriculture, nuclear cooperation, energy, lithium, minerals, defence, education; even cultural exchange and many other things.

It is also the fifth anniversary of the strategic partnership between the two countries. If you can give a sense of how much it has deepened or broadened the partnership between the two democracies?

In 2022, the India-Argentina bilateral trade touched a record US $6.5 billion. India imported large quantities of soyabean oil and sunflower oil. However, the trade figure declined due to drought in Argentina; we hope it will recover. India is among the six or seven most important trade partners of Argentina.

Where do you see the relationship going in the future?

Trade is approximately US $4.5 - 5 billion. In 2022 it was record high, touching US$ 6.4 or 6.5 billion. Unfortunately following that phase drought happened and trade declined to US$ 4 billion in 2023. However, we estimate that trade will be higher.

Trade needs to increase and in new diversified areas of cooperation. For us, the problem is the import duty regulations here. We feel the country is too protectionist. We understand the domestic political reasons behind these decisions. However, our bilateral relationship in trade and other sectors could be much more intense if such high import duties could be avoided. It is not just Argentina but other countries also feel the same.

If the Indian economy could be more open, trade with a number of countries will increase including Argentina. So will be the case with Brazil and other countries. If the economy is more open, consumers will benefit with more and better products at a lower price.

We all believe in free trade and its advantages. But then there are political restrictions and domestic pressures that every country in this world has. I understand that. That’s why they increased the import duties on edible oils some time back, which is a problem for us now.

India has an almost unlimited demand for energy. And Argentina might be one of the providers since it has a natural gas reserve. Argentina is a reliable partner of India. It is a reliable provider for India in terms of two things that India and the world demand, food security and energy security. We can be providers of both things. We are providers of soyabean oil and sunflower oil. We can be providers of energy also. And of lithium.

To take our ties to the next level in the coming months and years we have to diversify and expand exports to many other areas, whether in energy, lithium, wine, more of pulses, lentils and those types of things that fall in the agricultural field. Our bilateral trade relationship can increase to US $6-$7 billion. But the game changer will be if we have a strong energy partnership. Argentina can be one of the promising partners in food and energy security.

Argentina is a superpower in agriculture, edible oil, seeds and wine. Is the good friendship limited to these sectors only or are there agreements on nuclear energy also?

We are also talking about nuclear energy cooperation. Argentina is a country that has nuclear capacity. It has developed a nuclear facility in Mumbai for radioisotopes. It is a medical purpose nuclear facility. It’s meant to get treatments with nuclear energy.