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.

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

The External Affairs Minister underlined Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Atmanirbhar 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.