Chile FM Klaveren's visit to India helped advance bilateral ties: MEA

The visit of Chile's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alberto van Klaveren, to India provided an opportunity to review the progress in bilateral cooperation and helped advance the ties between the two countries, the MEA said on Saturday.

The Chilean foreign minister paid an official visit to India from August 27-31 at the invitation of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

On August 28, Jaishankar and van Klaveren co-chaired the second India-Chile Joint Commission Meeting (JCM); met with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and inaugurated the Chile-India Business (Agriculture) Summit; and delivered a lecture at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

 

During the JCM, the ministers reviewed bilateral relations and held wide-ranging discussions for strengthening cooperation in trade and investment, agriculture, critical minerals, digital public infrastructure, defence, railways, health and pharmaceuticals, science and technology, Antarctica and space, and people-to-people ties.

The two ministers also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest and reiterated their commitment to closer cooperation in multilateral fora.

The meeting between Goyal and van Klaveren discussed the way forward for "deepening and diversifying" bilateral trade and economic relations.

The MEA said van Klaveren delivered a lecture on Chile's foreign policy to a gathering of diplomats, faculty and students at JNU's School of International Studies.

During his visit to Mumbai on August 29-30, van Klaveren visited Tata Consultancy Services and the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) masala market, and participated in a Chilean wine-tasting event, it said.

He also spoke at the "Shooting in Chile" event that showcased Chile as a potential destination for Indian film productions.

"The visit of foreign minister van Klaveren provided an opportunity to review the progress in bilateral cooperation and helped in advancing India-Chile ties further," the MEA said.