Bolivia–India relations

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Bolivia–India relations
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Bolivia
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India

Bolivia and India maintain diplomatic relations.

History

The Embassy of India in Lima, Peru has been jointly accredited to Bolivia since April 1981. India also maintains honorary consuls general in La Paz and Santa Cruz, although the latter is not currently functioning. Bolivia opened its embassy in New Delhi in 2012, and Jorge Cardenas Robles assumed office as the first resident Ambassador of Bolivia to India on 8 November 2012. [1]

Contents

The first India-Bolivia Foreign Office Consultations were held in La Paz on 20 November 2014. Several ministerial level visits between the two countries have taken place. [1]

President Ram Nath Kovind was on a visit to Bolivia from March 28 to 30, 2019. This was the first visit by an Indian president to Bolivia.

Trade

Bilateral trade between Bolivia and India totaled US$314.684 million in 2015–16. India exported $74.432 million worth of goods to Bolivia, and imported $240.252 million in 2015–16. [1] The main commodities exported by India to Bolivia are automobiles, iron and steel, pharmaceuticals, machinery, rubber and plastic products and yarns and textiles. The major commodities imported by India from Bolivia are gold, leather and animal feed. [1]

The two countries are negotiating a BIPPA (Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement). [1]

Indian firm Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. was awarded a contract to develop the El Mutun iron ore mine in 2007. The company announced that it would invest $2.3 billion to establish a steel plant, in what was the largest foreign direct investment in Bolivian history. [2] However, the company shut down the project in July 2012, accusing the Bolivian government of not fulfilling "contract conditions". [3] [1] In August 2014, the International Chamber of Commerce ruled in favour of Jindal and ordered the state-owned mining company Empresa Siderúrgica del Mutún to pay Jindal $22.5 million in compensation. [4]

Indian pesticides company UPL has an office in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Indian car manufacturer Tata Motors retails its vehicles through an authorized dealer in Bolivia. [1]

Defence

In May 2009, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs turned down a request from Bolivia for a line of credit to purchase seven HAL Dhruvs for the Bolivian Air Force. [5] Bolivian Defence Minister Reymi Ferreira and COFEDENA General Manager Col. Felipe Eduardo Vasquez Moya visited Goa in March 2016 to participate DEFEXPO 2016. [6] [7]

Cultural relations

Bolivia and India signed an agreement on cultural co-operation in 1997. [1]

Bollywood films, music, and dance are popular in Bolivia. Bollywood dance academies (locally known as Danca-Indu) and Indian dance groups are present in the cities of La Paz, Cochabamba, Potosí and Oruro. [8]

According to a report by hotel bookings website Hotels.com, Bolivian tourists spent the most money in India in the first six months of 2016, spending an average of 12,128 (US$150) during the period, 28% higher than they spent in the first 6 months of 2015. [9]

Foreign aid

India provided financial support to install solar lighting at the Archaeological Complex of Tiwanaku. India donated $200,000 worth of medicines in the aftermath of landslides in Bolivia in 2007, and $100,000 cash in response to floods caused by La Niña in 2008. India provided Bolivia with $200,000 cash to deal with floods in the North and Central regions of the country in 2011. [1]

In September 2016, India donated $3.3 million to establish a center of excellence in technology in Bolivia. At the ceremony to sign the agreement, Bolivian President Evo Morales announced that the country would seek India's help to build its first ever pharmaceutical plant in the city of Cochabamba. [10]

Citizens of Bolivia are eligible for scholarships under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. [11] [1]

In March 2019, 8 MoUs were signed between India and Bolivia. These MoUs were signed in the fields of culture, mining, visa waiver arrangement for diplomats, the exchange between diplomatic academics, space, traditional medicine, establishment of center of excellence in IT and Bi-Oceanic Railway projects.

Indians in Bolivia

As of December 2016, there are around 100 Indians in Bolivia. They are primarily involved in retail, transportation, agriculture, and religious communities. [1]

In March 2019, President of Bolivia Evo Morales Ayma honored Ram Nath Kovind with the highest State Honour of Bolivia 'Condor de Los Andres en el grado de Gran Collar' in Santa Cruz.

In March 2019, A Plaque of Mahatama Gandhi Hall was inaugurated by the President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind at the Gabriel Rene Moreno University in Santa Cruz.

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The economy of Bolivia is the 95th-largest in the world in nominal terms and the 87th-largest in purchasing power parity. Bolivia is classified by the World Bank to be a lower middle income country. With a Human Development Index of 0.703, it is ranked 114th. Driven largely by its natural resources, Bolivia has become a region leader in measures of economic growth, fiscal stability and foreign reserves, although it remains a historically poor country. The Bolivian economy has had a historic single-commodity focus. From silver to tin to coca, Bolivia has enjoyed only occasional periods of economic diversification. Political instability and difficult topography have constrained efforts to modernize the agricultural sector. Similarly, relatively low population growth coupled with low life expectancy has kept the labor supply in flux and prevented industries from flourishing. Rampant inflation and corruption previously created development challenges, but in the early twenty-first century the fundamentals of its economy showed unexpected improvement, leading Moody's Investors Service to upgrade Bolivia's economic rating in 2010 from B2 to B1. The mining industry, especially the extraction of natural gas and zinc, currently dominates Bolivia's export economy.

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El Cerro Mutún (Spanish for "the Mountain Mutún") is an iron ore deposit. Located in the Germán Busch Province in the Santa Cruz Department of Bolivia, near Puerto Suárez, it extends across the border into Brazil, where it is called the Serrania de Jacadigo. Also known as the "Serrania Mutún", it has an area of about 75 square kilometers. Its estimated reserves are about 40.205 billion (40.205 × 109) tons of iron ore of 50% iron, mainly in hematite and magnetite form, and in lesser quantities in siderite and manganese minerals. This can be compared with an estimate of the total world reserves of iron ore: 800 billion tons of crude ore containing more than 230 billion tons of iron.

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Luis Alberto Arce Catacora, often referred to as Lucho, is a Bolivian banker, economist, and politician serving as the 67th president of Bolivia since 2020. A member of the Movement for Socialism, he previously served as minister of finance—later minister of economy and public finance—from 2006 to 2017, and in 2019.

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References

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  2. Desai, Ronak D. (25 June 2015). "A New Era For India-Latin America Relations?". Forbes. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  3. "Naveen Jindal's Bolivia Exit - Another Lesson Learnt | Forbes India Blog". Forbes India. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  4. Dube, Ryan (26 August 2014). "Bolivia to Appeal Ruling Favoring India's Jindal in El Mutún Dispute". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  5. Shukla, Ajai (23 May 2009). "MEA shoots down defence ministry's helicopter export". Business Standard India. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  6. Chaudhury, Dipanjan Roy (12 July 2018). "Defence Expo 2016: For the first time, two Senior Ministers from Bolivia in India for bilateral cooperation". The Economic Times. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  7. Mitra, Devirupa (2 April 2016). "Bolivia, On Hunt for Indian Investment, Wants to Close Chapter on Jindal Dispute". thewire.in. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  8. Bhandary, Sachin (19 February 2016). "The Bollywood dancers of Bolivia". livemint.com. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  9. "Tourists from Bolivia spent most in India H1 of 2016: Report". India Today. PTI. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  10. "Bolivia, India in talks to build $350 mn pharmaceutical plant". efe.com. 15 September 2016. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  11. "Partner Countries > Bolivia". Indian Technical & Economic Cooperation Programme. Archived from the original on 21 May 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2017.