♤ NAM can be a good mechanism and platform to cooperate.

1.2.8. Regional Institutions

♤ Mercosur: Mercosur is a South American trade bloc established by the Treaty of Asunción in 1991 and Protocol of Ouro Preto in 1994. Its full members are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. It is the largest trading partner of India in Latin America. Current preferential trade agreement (PTA) between India and Mercosur was signed in 2009 and since 2017 there are attempts to expand it. A PTA is a limited free trade agreement where partner countries reduce import duties on a few identified products for the other. While the PTA between India and Mercosur is presently limited to just 450 products, the two sides have raised their ambitions manifold and are now aiming at providing preferential access to about 3,000 items.

♤ CARICOM: CARICOM came into being on 4 July 1973 with the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas. The Treaty was later revised in 2002 to allow for the eventual establishment of a single market and a single economy. The CARICOM is a grouping of twenty countries: fifteen Member States and five Associate Members. The Community is multi-lingual; with English as the major language complemented by French and Dutch and variations of these, as well as African and Indian expressions. CARICOM rests on four main pillars: economic integration; foreign policy coordination;human and social development; and security.