Buenos Aires, Jul 5: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Friday evening, on a two-day visit of his five-nation tour, that aims to reinforce India's engagements with the Global South and focus on strengthening ties with the South American country. He was accorded a ceremonial welcome upon his arrival at the Ezeiza International Airport.

This is the first bilateral visit to the South American country by an Indian Prime Minister in 57 years, and is thus historic.

"Landed in Buenos Aires for a bilateral visit which will focus on augmenting relations with Argentina. I'm eager to be meeting President Javier Milei and holding detailed talks with him," PM Modi wrote in a post on his official X account.

"Celebrating the enduring friendship between our nations. PM @narendramodi has landed in the vibrant city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on an Official Visit. He was accorded a ceremonial welcome on arrival at the airport. This is the first bilateral visit by an Indian PM to Argentina in 57 years, marking a new chapter in India-Argentina ties," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a post on social media platform X.

He has already visited Ghana and Trinidad & Tobago –- both highly successful visits.

Prime Minister Modi will be in Argentina on July 4 and 5, on the invitation of President Javier Milei.

The last meeting between the two leaders was in November 2024, on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

While Prime Minister Modi has previously been to Argentina in 2018 to attend the G20 Summit.

In his departure statement before embarking on the ongoing five-nation visit, the Prime Minister had called Argentina – a key economic partner in Latin America and a close collaborator in G20.

The two countries share cohesive and strong relations spread across a wide spectrum of sectors and deepened over decades.

The ties were elevated to the level of Strategic Partnership in 2019 and the two countries celebrated 75 years of diplomatic relations in 2024.

The people-to-people connect between the two nations is also strong with Yoga, Ayurveda and Indian philosophy being fairly popular.

As per the programme, Prime Minister Modi will be paying respects at the statue of General Jose de San Martin, Argentina's revered freedom fighter and national hero.

The Prime Minister will be accorded a ceremonial welcome; he will hold the delegation talks, followed by a lunch hosted by President Milei for him.

The visit is expected to further strengthen the strategic partnership and open new avenues of cooperation. These include trade and investment, health and pharmaceuticals, defence and security infrastructure, mining and mineral resources, agriculture and food security, green energy, ICT, digital innovation, disaster management, science and technology, education and people-to-people linkages.

The Prime Minister's visit at a particularly significant time as Argentina is undertaking major economic reforms -- somewhat similar to those undertaken in India in the past.

India's advancements in sectors like defence manufacturing, space, information technology and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) can benefit Argentina.

India's expertise in Telemedicine and Digital healthcare solutions can also offer Argentina a way to deliver affordable and quality healthcare access.

Argentina holds the world's second largest shale gas reserves and the fourth largest shale oil reserves along with of course substantial conventional oil and gas deposits, making it a potentially important energy partner for India in the future.

Argentina's rich reserves of critical minerals such as lithium, copper and other rare earth elements complement India’s growing need for secure and sustainable supplies to these elements for its clean energy transition and industrial growth. Along with Bolivia and Chile, Argentina forms the Lithium Triangle.

Lithium is crucial for modern technology, primarily due to its role in rechargeable batteries. It's a key component in powering electric vehicles, portable electronics like phones and laptops, and energy storage systems for renewable energy sources. Towards this, Indian companies like public sector players Khanij Bidesh India Ltd and Coal India Ltd. have obtained certain concessions--in the Catamarca province of Argentina.

The two leaders will be discussing the partnership in this sector when they meet.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already made successful visits to Ghana and Trinidad and Tobago as part of the ongoing programme and after Argentina, he will head to Brazil where he will participate in the BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro before undertaking a bilateral visit to Brasilia. He will then proceed to Namibia -- the last stop in this visit.

(IANS)

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