♤ The Pacific Alliance, a Latin American trade bloc, currently has four member states— Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru—that all border the Pacific Ocean. India was granted ‘observer’ status in the bloc in 2014.

♤ India may find in Latin America a willing partner as nationalist and anti-immigration sentiments sweep through the global North.

1.2.7. What Can Drive Cooperation?

♤ With culture as tool— language, food, and art, among them—people from India and Latin America can strengthen their understanding of each other. Cultural exchanges between the two regions have increased over the years, with several educational institutions offering scholarships, for example, in dance and music.

♤ The India-Latin America relations are increasingly acquiring strategic orientation. Building upon New Delhi’s dialogue with a troika of foreign ministers of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in July 2012.

♤ the two sides should explore the possibilities of forging an India-Latin America and Caribbean Dialogue Mechanism similar to that of the India-Africa Forum Summit that started in 2008.

♤ The region is also critical to multilateral diplomacy and the quest for reforming the global governance architecture, including the reform and expansion of the UN Security Council.

♤ Defence Manufacturing and Export is an area that India has some links to the region. This arena has great potential for cooperation.