India- Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador Relations: Challenges and Opportunities
Chennai, 27th August 2020 | The Peninsula Foundation (TPF) had an Interactive Lecture on India’s relations with Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Our esteemed panelist was Ambassador B.S. Mubarak IFS, Ambassador of India to Guatemala. In Chair was Air Marshal M Matheswaran (Retd.), Founder-President, TPF and the discussion was moderated by Dr. Sunod Jacob, Senior Fellow, TPF.
The Ambassador began by pointing out the increased potential for bilateral relations in the Central American region, borrowing from the example of Mexico’s strong bilateral trade relations with India. He emphasised the importance of India’s commercial partnerships and trade throughout Latin America, expressing that India can be a great partner for these countries in several areas.
He spoke about the embassy’s strategy to invite Indian companies already successful in Mexico further into Central America considering the similarity of cultures and mindsets between Mexico and the latter. Mr. Mubarak also spoke about the prominence and proliferation of Indian automobiles (especially Bajaj Auto), pharmaceuticals (26% of total share comes from India), and textiles in Guatemala. A key takeaway from the Ambassador’s lecture was that the whole of Central America should be seen as one market of 62 million people by investors rather than individual countries; considering how only the three countries in question make up a large market with 30 million people.
Ambassador Mubarak then addressed the cultural/soft power dynamic between India and this region, and the events held to facilitate the same— including an Indian film festival, programmes for International Yoga Day, Gandhi Jayanti and other musical and cultural events. He expressed the need for Indian scholars to reciprocate the Central American interest and enthusiasm to take this bond further.
The Ambassador concluded his lecture by presenting the wide range of opportunities in this region, especially in the following industries: food processing, agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals including branded and generic drugs, engineering, automobiles, the sugar industry, infrastructure cooperation, Indian food products, and investments encouraged by the similarity in time zones between US and Guatemala.