New Delhi: During Chilean President Gabriel Boric’s state visit to India, the two sides on Tuesday (April 1) decided to begin negotiations for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), accelerate cooperation in critical minerals and collaborate on Antarctic research.Boric, whose journey to Delhi reportedly took around 24 hours, began his five-day state visit on Tuesday. He is the third Chilean president to come to India, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.A joint statement issued on Tuesday said that Boric and Prime Minister Narendra Modi “welcomed the launch of negotiations” for a CEPA.Modi in a press statement said the two leaders instructed their respective teams to “initiate discussions” on an agreement.Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, joint secretary (east) in the MEA P. Kumaran said that the aim was to take forward an existing partial trade agreement between India and Chile “into a more comprehensive” free trade agreement or a CEPA “that will also include, in addition to trade and goods, services and investment”.Tuesday’s joint statement also said that the two leaders “agreed to accelerate collaboration in exploration, mining and processing along with research and development to promote investment across the entire critical mineral value chain for mutual benefit”.The two sides also agreed to work on initiatives to strengthen supply chains by forging “partnerships and understandings”, including the “possibility of long-term supply of minerals and materials from Chile to India”.Kumaran noted that Chile’s strength in mining and exporting critical minerals – he said the country was responsible for 24% of the world’s copper output and 30% of the global lithium output – complemented India’s interest in the materials.These materials are key to developing new and emerging technologies such as electric vehicles as well as battery technologies that can increase how much power is tapped and stored from renewable sources, he added.Besides, India is exploring a chapter on critical minerals as part of discussions on a CEPA, which is to “naturally involve Indian investments, possibly some kind of value addition in Chile”, Kumaran also said.Modi and Boric also, per the joint statement, appreciated the signing of a letter of intent to “strengthen existing Antarctic cooperation”.Union science and technology minister Jitendra Singh said in reference to the letter on Tuesday that the “exchange of researchers and participation in joint expeditions will further advance mutual expertise and exploration capabilities”, as per PTI.Chile’s southernmost areas, themselves located at the southern tip of South America, are close to Antarctica. Both it and India operate research bases on the continent.Some research that can be conducted in Antarctica vis-a-vis extremely low temperatures can also be applied to “other low-temperature situations like space”, said Kumaran.On Tuesday the two sides signed four outcome documents: the Antarctica letter of intent, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cultural exchange, another MoU on cooperation on copper, and one more MoU on disaster management, Kumaran said.Modi hosted Boric for lunch while President Droupadi Murmu hosted the Chilean president for dinner at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
