Possible UPSC Questions
- Critically analyse the strategic importance of Argentina for India’s quest for critical minerals and energy security.
- Enumerate the new areas of cooperation outlined during the 2025 Modi–Milei summit and discuss their relevance to India’s economic priorities.
- What is a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA)? Examine its potential benefits and challenges in the context of India–Mercosur trade.
- Evaluate the significance of India’s outreach to Latin America for its Act East/Extended Neighbourhood policy matrix.
Quick Outline of Key Facts
| Parameter | Details |
| Visit | PM Modi in Buenos Aires, 28 June 2025 (first bilateral PM visit in 57 yrs; earlier G20 visit in 2018) |
| Counterpart | President Javier Milei (met previously at G-20 Brazil, Nov 2024) |
| Strategic Partner | Status since 2019; 75 yrs of diplomatic ties celebrated 2024 |
| Core Outcomes | • Road-map for PTA negotiations • Fast-track approvals for Indian pharmaceuticals • Adoption of UPI digital payments • Joint working groups on critical minerals, shale hydrocarbons, defence production, space, ICT, digital health |
| Resource Endowments | Argentina: #2 shale gas, #4 shale oil reserves; major lithium, copper, REE deposits (KABIL concessions since 2024) |
| Sectors flagged | Energy, critical minerals, defence & space, agrifood, infrastructure, disaster management, education, people-to-people |
| Historic trivia | Last Indian PM bilateral visit: Indira Gandhi (1968); first recorded Argentine in India: Lucio Mansilla, 1848 |
Summary
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s June 2025 trip to Buenos Aires — the first standalone bilateral visit by an Indian leader to Argentina in 57 years — has reinvigorated a partnership formally designated “strategic” only in 2019. Meeting President Javier Milei barely eight months after their exchange on the G20 sidelines, the two leaders unveiled an ambitious economic-security agenda anchored in market access, technology flows and resource complementarities.
Trade & Economic Linkages. Negotiators were tasked with crafting a Preferential Trade Agreement to lift the current India-Argentina merchandise trade (≈US $6 billion) beyond commodity exchange. Acutely conscious of Argentina’s ongoing market-liberalisation programme, New Delhi sought quicker regulatory clearance for Indian pharmaceuticals and generic drugs — a traditional competitive edge — and offered expertise in digital public infrastructure, with Buenos Aires agreeing in principle to integrate UPI for retail payments.
Energy & Critical Minerals. Argentina’s Vaca Muerta formation ranks second globally in shale-gas reserves and fourth in shale oil, making it a potentially pivotal supplier for India’s diversifying energy basket. Equally crucial is Buenos Aires’s location within Latin America’s “lithium triangle”. The joint statement singles out lithium, copper and rare-earth elements for mutually beneficial exploration; India’s PSU venture KABIL already controls exploration blocks allotted in 2024. Cooperation will extend to sharing regulatory know-how, environmental safeguards and offtake assurances to support India’s battery-storage and EV ambitions.
High-Technology & Defence. A dedicated mechanism will examine co-development/ co-production in aerospace, naval systems and munitions, dovetailing with Argentina’s interest in replacing ageing platforms and India’s vision of becoming a net defence exporter. ISRO-CONAE collaboration on satellites, data applications and disaster early-warning was upgraded, while tele-medicine and digital-health pilots were announced to leverage India’s low-cost e-health solutions for Argentina’s remote provinces.
Wider Cooperation. Other focal points include agriculture & food security (sharing of high-yield pulses varieties), climate-resilient infrastructure, vocational training, ICT start-up linkages and cultural-academic exchanges, underlining a whole-of-government approach. Officials emphasised that Buenos Aires’s economic reforms echo India’s own 1991 experience, creating fertile ground for policy dialogue.
Significance to the UPSC Exam
- GS-II (International Relations): Illustrates India’s diversification of partnerships beyond the Indo-Pacific, aligning with themes of energy security, technology diplomacy and South-South cooperation.
- GS-III (Economy/Resources): Case study on critical-mineral diplomacy, shale-gas prospecting, PTA mechanics and fintech export (UPI).
- Essay/Ethics: Offers material on global interdependence, responsible resource sourcing, and ethical tech transfer to developing economies.
- Prelims Pointers: Location of Vaca Muerta, KABIL mandate, lithium triangle, UPI internationalisation, historic visits (Indira 1968).
Understanding this visit showcases how India blends economic, technological and strategic instruments to craft mutually reinforcing partnerships in Latin America’s resource-rich landscape.
