New Delhi: India and Paraguay stand united in the fight against terrorism and there is immense possibility to work unitedly to combat shared challenges such as cybercrime and drug trafficking, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday.
Modi made the remarks at delegation-level talks with Paraguayan President Santiago Pena Palacios. The Pahalgam terror attack figured in the talks.
Pena arrived in Delhi this morning on a three-day visit to India to explore ways to expand overall cooperation.
Welcoming President Peña at delegation-level talks, Modi said the Paraguayan leader’s first visit to Delhi will add new strength to the pillars of trust, trade, and close cooperation in the relations and will also add new dimensions to India-Latin America relations.
Peña, who arrived in Delhi on Monday, is on a three-day visit to India to explore ways to expand overall cooperation. It is his first visit to India and only the second trip by a president of the South American country.
“India and Paraguay stand united in the fight against terrorism. There is immense possibility of cooperation to fight against shared challenges such as cybercrime, organised crime, and drug trafficking,” Modi said, describing the two countries as integral parts of the Global South with similar “hopes, aspirations, challenges.”
“We see new opportunities for cooperation in areas such as digital technology, critical minerals, energy, agriculture, healthcare, defence, railways, space, and overall economic partnership,” he said.
Briefing reporters, P Kumaran, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said: “This visit comes soon after the barbaric terrorist attack in Pahalgam, J&K. PM Modi expressed his deep appreciation to Paraguay for its strong condemnation of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, as well as for the sincere condolences and solidarity expressed with the people and the Government of India… On behalf of the Paraguayan people, President Peña expressed his deep solidarity with the victims and families of the terrorist attack.”
Kumaran said the two sides welcomed the establishment of a joint commission mechanism (JCM) at the Secretary / Vice-Ministerial level, which will serve as “a key platform to review and advance cooperation in priority areas of mutual interest.”
The PM also referred to New Delhi’s preferential trade arrangement with South American trading bloc MERCOSUR, comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. “We can work together to further expand it,” the PM said.
On defence cooperation, Kumaran said while Paraguay’s priorities are different to those of India, the “logic driving their acquisition of defence hardware” is mainly law enforcement.
He said one of the points discussed in the talks was “AgriStack”. “As a large agricultural country, the use of digital platforms to make agriculture more efficient… is of great interest to the Paraguayan side,” Kumaran said.
