India-Latin America Relations, 2000-22: Their Encounter and Shared Gains

ABSTRACTIndia’s relations with Latin American countries are of long-standing but they had had low salience for both sides. During the early 21st century, the salience increased for both. What explains this change? The confluence of shifts in the structure of the international system, economic and political regime change, and the rise to office of new governments in India and key Latin American countries, in particular Brazil and Mexico, permitted and fostered an acceleration and intensification of relations between India and such countries. The heightened inter-country partnerships during 2004–14 resulted from statecraft, that is, the deliberate actions of the governments of India and its key Latin American partners in response to new international system opportunities and the subsequent actions of their respective business communities. Prime ministers and presidents acted on the structural opportunity to enact innovative foreign policies. These governments coordinated their policies in multilateral institutions, helped to reshape them, and innovated in creating new multilateral entities. They also opened new avenues for business investment and trade. In time, democratic politics – the transfer of power from incumbent parties and leaders to the opposition – converted one administration’s policy into the foreign policy of the State. AcknowledgmentsI am grateful to Rafael Fernández de Castro, Rejaul Laskar, and Bernabé Malacalza for comments on an earlier version of this article. I am solely responsible for all mistakes of fact or interpretation.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1. Nagesh Kumar, “Internationalisation of India’s Enterprises: Patterns, Strategies, Ownership Advantages, and Implications,” Asian Economic Policy Review 3 (2008): 242–61.2. International Monetary Fund, International Financial Statistics, various years.3. 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Domínguez and Rafael Fernández de Castro (New York: Routledge, 2016): 2014–235. See also Leslie E. Wehner and Cameron G. Thies, “The Nexus of Populism and Foreign Policy: the Case of Latin America,” International Relations 35, no. 2 (2021): 320–340.44. Lucia Kassai, “With Reliance Halting Imports, Venezuela’s Oil Crisis Just Got Worse,” The Print, June 26, 2020, https://theprint.in/economy/with-reliance-halting-imports-venezuelas-oil-crisis-just-got-worse/448963 (accessed March 23, 2022); Bhojwani, “India’s prospects,” 439.45. Carlos Uscanga, “La política exterior del gobierno mexicano en el Pacífico Asiático,” Foro Internacional 59, no. 3–4 (2019): 851–877; Blanca Torres Ramírez, “La participación de México en la convención marco de las Naciones Unidas sobre el cambio climático,” Foro Internacional 59, no. 3–4 (2019): 1179–1219.Additional informationFundingThe author is self-funded.Notes on contributorsJorge I. DomínguezJorge I. Dominguez, is a scholar of Latin American studies. He taught at Harvard University from 1972 to 2018, when he retired as the Antonio Madero Professor for the Study of Mexico. He began his teaching career at Harvard in 1972, and in 1979 was granted tenure. From 1995 to 2006, he served as director of Harvard's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. From 2006 to 2015, he served as Harvard's first Vice Provost for International Affairs in the Office of the Provost, and Senior Advisor for International Studies to the Dean of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences. He also chaired the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, served as an associate of Harvard's David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, and as an associate of Harvard's Leverett House. He has published books and articles on Latin America and, in particular, Cuba. In 1989, Abraham F. Lowenthal described him in Foreign Affairs as the dean of U.S. Cubanologists