Strengthening Diplomatic Ties Between India and Latin America

India and Latin America sit on opposite sides of the planet, separated by thousands of kilometres of ocean and centuries of different historical paths. Yet over the past two decades, these two regions have moved steadily closer, building a relationship that now spans politics, trade, defence, and shared positions on how the world should be governed. This post explains how diplomatic ties between India and Latin America have been strengthened, why Brazil sits at the centre of this story, and what platforms like BRICS and IBSA mean for the future of the partnership.

From distant acquaintance to strategic engagement
The political dimension of the partnership
Pushing for UNSC reform
South-South cooperation
Brazil: the anchor of the relationship
High-level visits build momentum
IBSA: a forum built on shared democratic values
Three pillars of cooperation
The economic engine: trade and MERCOSUR
Expanding the trade framework
An expanding diplomatic footprint
Challenges that remain
Why this matters for India’s global strategy

From distant acquaintance to strategic engagement

The relationship did not begin recently. Diplomatic ties were established soon after independence, helped by shared experiences of colonialism and the absence of any direct conflicts between the two regions. Brazil became the first Latin American country to set up diplomatic relations with India, back in 1948. Cultural exchange also flourished early, with poets and intellectuals like Octavio Paz, Rabindranath Tagore, and Victoria Ocampo shaping how each region viewed the other.

Still, for a long time the connection stayed warm but thin. During the Cold War, both regions were preoccupied with their immediate concerns. Latin America historically remained a low priority in Indian foreign policy because of its limited geopolitical weight in New Delhi’s calculations. The real shift came after liberalisation in the 1990s, when globalisation and the search for new markets pushed policymakers to look at regions that had been neglected.

The Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region is made up of 33 countries. India’s relations with these countries have seen sustained growth in recent decades, with continuous efforts to diversify engagement across the entire region. What was once a “distant acquaintance” has become a genuine strategic engagement.

The political dimension of the partnership

The political relationship is built on a simple idea: India and most Latin American countries are part of the developing world, and they share frustration with global institutions that were designed in the mid-twentieth century. This shared outlook drives much of their cooperation on the world stage.

Pushing for UNSC reform

One of the strongest areas of agreement is the reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Since 1945, the Council has had five permanent members with veto power: China, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and Russia. Many developing nations argue this structure no longer reflects the realities of the twenty-first century.

India and Brazil have been at the forefront of this demand. In 2004, the two countries joined Germany and Japan to form the G4 grouping, which calls for an expansion in the number of permanent UNSC seats to give representation to developing nations of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The alignment is striking. Brazil’s envoy, speaking before a recent prime ministerial visit, said the two countries are united in pushing for reform of the Council’s membership and working methods so they reflect the realities of a multipolar world.

South-South cooperation

South-South cooperation is the broad term for collaboration among developing countries of the Global South, as opposed to relying on assistance from wealthier nations of the North. The idea is that countries facing similar challenges can pool resources, share technology, and support each other’s development on more equal terms.

For India, this is both a principle and a strategy. By working with Latin American partners on health, education, poverty reduction, and clean energy, India positions itself as a development partner rather than a dominant power. At forums like the BRICS and G20, India has consistently argued for amplifying the voice of the Global South. At the 2025 BRICS Summit, the Prime Minister stressed that the institutions of global governance built in the twentieth century are ill-equipped to handle the challenges of the twenty-first.

Brazil: the anchor of the relationship

If India’s engagement with Latin America has a centre of gravity, it is Brazil. As the largest economy and most populous country in the region, Brazil naturally became India’s most important partner there. The ties were elevated to a strategic partnership in 2006, opening a new phase in bilateral relations.

The two countries share membership in several major groupings. Both are members of BRICS, the G20, IBSA, and the G4 nations. This overlapping membership means India and Brazil regularly find themselves coordinating positions, whether on trade rules, climate finance, or UN reform.

High-level visits build momentum

Diplomacy is often driven by personal engagement between leaders, and the India-Brazil relationship has seen a recent burst of activity. The Prime Minister participated in the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro on 6-7 July 2025, where leaders discussed reform of global governance, strengthening the voice of the Global South, and multilateralism.

The summit was followed by a state visit to Brasília. This was significant because it was the first bilateral visit to Brazil by an Indian Prime Minister in nearly six decades. Such visits matter because they convert broad goodwill into concrete agreements and signal that both governments take the relationship seriously.

IBSA: a forum built on shared democratic values

The IBSA Dialogue Forum brings together India, Brazil, and South Africa, and it deserves special attention because it captures the spirit of India’s Latin America strategy. It was formalised on 6 June 2003 in Brasília with the Brasília Declaration, bringing together three large democracies and major economies from three different continents that face similar challenges.

What makes IBSA distinctive is its democratic character. Unlike BRICS, which includes China and Russia, IBSA is anchored in shared political values such as pluralism, constitutional democracy, transparency, and the rule of law. This shared identity gives the forum a certain moral authority when it argues for a more inclusive global order.

Three pillars of cooperation

IBSA operates on three fronts. The first is political consultation, where the three countries coordinate positions on global issues like UNSC reform, climate change, terrorism, and trade. The second is trilateral collaboration through working groups covering areas such as agriculture, trade, culture, and defence. The third is assistance to other developing countries through the IBSA Fund.

The IBSA Fund is a concrete example of South-South cooperation in action. Established in 2004, it has allocated over USD 53 million to dozens of development projects across more than 30 partner countries, mostly Least Developed Countries. Defence cooperation is also active, with the three navies conducting a joint maritime exercise known as IBSAMAR, managed in part through the UN Office for South-South Cooperation.

The economic engine: trade and MERCOSUR

Political ties are reinforced by growing economic links. Latin America offers India access to critical minerals, energy, food, and new export markets. One analysis describes the region as being in a “goldilocks zone” for India, offering a balance between highly regulated markets like the US and Europe and less competitive markets elsewhere.

The main vehicle for trade is the India-MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement. MERCOSUR is the South American trading bloc made up of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. India signed a Framework Agreement with MERCOSUR in 2003, followed by a Preferential Trade Agreement in 2004 that came into effect in June 2009. A preferential trade agreement is narrower than a full free trade agreement, offering reduced tariffs on a selected list of products rather than across the board.

Expanding the trade framework

The current agreement is limited, covering only a few hundred tariff lines. Recognising this, both sides have moved to broaden it. India and Brazil announced a joint declaration to expand the PTA to cover both tariff and non-tariff issues, with the aim of scaling up bilateral trade from around USD 12 billion to USD 20 billion by 2030.

This push is not limited to Brazil. During a 2025 state visit, the Prime Minister told the visiting President of Paraguay that the two countries could work together to further expand the preferential trade agreement, identifying opportunities in digital technology, critical minerals, energy, agriculture, healthcare, and defence. Treating the bloc as a single market lets India engage the whole region more efficiently.

An expanding diplomatic footprint

Strong relationships need physical infrastructure on the ground. The opening of new embassies and consulates is one of the clearest signs that India is investing in the region for the long term. India hosts around twenty Latin American and Caribbean embassies and maintains fourteen missions of its own across the region. These missions help process visas, support businesses, and keep diplomatic channels open day to day.

India also engages the region through its main regional bodies. It participates in the G20 alongside Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina, and engages with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, known as CELAC, as well as various sub-regional forums.

Challenges that remain

Despite real progress, the relationship has limits worth acknowledging. Distance and high logistics costs make trade more expensive than with closer partners. There is also an imbalance in attention: while India ranks among Brazil’s top trading partners, Brazil sits much lower on India’s own priority list, pointing to significant untapped potential.

India also faces strong competition. China has built a far deeper economic presence across the region, which means India is often playing catch-up. And political shifts within Latin American countries can change foreign policy priorities quickly, making consistency a challenge. For the partnership to reach its potential, analysts argue that political leadership on both sides must prioritise the relationship and institutionalise high-level dialogues so engagement becomes regular rather than occasional.

Why this matters for India’s global strategy

Strengthening ties with Latin America fits a larger pattern in foreign policy. India is trying to diversify its partnerships beyond traditional allies and its immediate neighbourhood. Building relationships across the Global South gives India more options, more markets, and more partners who share its view that global institutions need reform.

The relationship rests on three legs: shared political goals like UNSC reform and South-South cooperation, a strong anchor partnership with Brazil reinforced through BRICS and IBSA, and a growing economic foundation built on trade frameworks like the MERCOSUR PTA. Together these create a partnership that is more durable than warm sentiment alone could ever sustain.

What do you think? Should India invest more diplomatic energy in Latin America to compete with China’s deep presence there, even though the region sits far from its immediate strategic neighbourhood? And do platforms built on shared democratic values, like IBSA, offer India more genuine influence than larger but more divided groupings such as BRICS?

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Table of Contents

From distant acquaintance to strategic engagement 🔗

The political dimension of the partnership 🔗

Pushing for UNSC reform 🔗

South-South cooperation 🔗

Brazil: the anchor of the relationship 🔗

High-level visits build momentum 🔗

IBSA: a forum built on shared democratic values 🔗

Three pillars of cooperation 🔗

The economic engine: trade and MERCOSUR 🔗

Expanding the trade framework 🔗

An expanding diplomatic footprint 🔗

Challenges that remain 🔗

Why this matters for India’s global strategy 🔗