India, Chile hold first joint commission meeting

India and Chile held their first joint commission meeting on Friday and agreed to add new momentum to their relations in a wide range of fields including trade and commerce, agriculture, health and social security, defence and space.

The meeting held virtually was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chilean counterpart Andres Allamand Zavala.

Both sides noted that the Joint Commission was a significant development in India - Chile relations, being the first institutionalized dialogue between the two countries at the level of Foreign Ministers.

India welcomed Chile's decision to designate India as a priority country in its foreign policy. Chile will also be opening its Consulate General in Mumbai.

An MEA release said that the two sides reviewed the recent developments in India-Chile relations.

"Both sides discussed the future trajectory of their wide-ranging engagements. They agreed to add new momentum to the relations of the two countries in the fields of trade and commerce, agriculture, health and social security, defence, apace, science and technology, energy, mining, culture and education, disaster management and cooperation in Antarctica amongst others," the release said.

Based on their convergence of views on many global and regional issues, both sides agreed to coordinate closely at the multilateral fora.

The two sides exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest, especially in the context of the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.

The External Affairs Minister underlined Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of Atmrbhar Bharat for enhancing resilience through self-reliance and human-centric globalization as the basis for India's economic revival.

He invited Chile to take advantage of India's new economic capacities and growing market.

Jaishankar later said in tweets that he valued Andres Allamand Zavala's insights on Antarctica, data connectivity and clean energy and India welcomed Chile as a strong Indo-Pacific partner.

"Thank FM @allamand for co-chairing the first session of India-Chile Joint Commission Meeting. Reviewed our cooperation in trade, investment, defence, space, agriculture, pharmaceutical, mining and education," he said.

"Valued his insights on Antarctica, data connectivity and clean energy. Welcomed Chile as a strong Indo-Pacific partner," he added.

( With inputs from ANI )