New Delhi, Apr 2 (UNI) President of Chile Gabriel Boric today said that Chile and India are bound by several common linkages, including historical, and stressed that the beginning of negotiations on a bilateral Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement would reveal more common objectives and interests.
In an address at the Indian Council for World Affairs, the Chilean President said the common linkages include “the importance of bilateral and multilateral trade, in the protection of supply chains, in the promotion of investments, in public-private collaboration, in the promotion of multilateralism and the value we assign to the protection and defence of democracy and human rights.
“These similarities have allowed us to maintain a strong and stable bond over the years, and today we are voices from the Global South defending these values for the full development of our peoples”.
Speaking on the topic, ‘Chile and India, side by side on the Global South’, President Boric said: “In Chile, we are guided by the conviction that democracies will be stronger and fuller if we manage to reduce inequalities and achieve a better distribution of the benefits of growth, without neglecting it. That is the commitment we are in in our country and, from what I have seen and studied, also the path by which they are in India.”
He highlighted the importance of India as a strategic ally of Chile. “Leadership in technology, innovation, renewable energy, and digital infrastructure is highly relevant to the development of our country. And our visit, which also includes the passage through Mumbai and Bangalore, will allow us to strengthen our ties with India as a policy and a state effort that, I have no doubt, will be projected much more from the government that I have the honor of presiding.”
Later, the Chilean President led the Chile-India: Business Forum Meeting, organized by ProChile and InvestChile, which aimed to attract investment. During the event, the President announced the appointment of Alexis Zepeda as agricultural attache in India.
“I'm proud of the diversity of the business delegation joining us in India: agribusiness, startups, biotechnology companies, the digital world, scientific education, mining, and creative and cultural industries from different parts of our country. It's a showcase of Chile's best capabilities to diversify our economy and build alliances with new partners, vital in today's world,” he said.
“Chile and India have economic complementarity and a potential for scientific-technological cooperation that we have to know how to take advantage of. From our country we are actively diversifying our export basket and our international markets, but not only with primary products but adding value to them,” he added.
The Business conference saw the participation of Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal; the president of the Chile-India Business Council, Iván Marambio; among others
UNI RN