A delegation of Indian parliamentarians led by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi visited Uruguay from June 14th to 17th. The purpose of the visit was to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries. The delegation consisted of ten members from both houses of parliament. The Indian visit was made at the invitation of Sebastian Andujar, the President of the House of Representatives of the Uruguayan Parliament.
During the visit, Joshi and Andujar launched the India-Uruguay Parliamentary Friendship Group in the Uruguayan Parliament. The delegation held discussions on deepening bilateral relations, especially through parliamentary diplomacy. Both sides agreed that a reciprocal visit of parliamentarians from Uruguay to India would take place before the end of 2023.
The delegation also met the Vice President of Uruguay and President of the Senate, Beatriz Argimon, who is the first woman to have been elected to this post. This was the first parliamentary delegation from India to have visited Uruguay since 2012, when it was led by the then Lok Sabha speaker.
The visit aimed to promote the exchange of ideas and experiences between the two countries and to identify areas of common interest. Uruguay is a small South American country with a population of only 3.5 million. However, it has a long tradition of democratic governance and has made remarkable progress in social development, reducing poverty, and promoting sustainable development.
The visit by the Indian parliamentary delegation is expected to help in enhancing India-Uruguay bilateral relations and promoting mutual cooperation in areas such as trade, investment, agriculture, education, and culture. India is a major trading partner of Uruguay, and the two countries share a common interest in promoting a multilateral world order and promoting sustainable development.
The delegation level talks focused on strengthening the existing bilateral trade and investment relations, especially in areas such as IT, pharmaceuticals, textiles, renewable energy, and agriculture. The delegation also discussed cooperation on issues of mutual interest, such as climate change, cybersecurity, and counterterrorism.
Overall, the visit was seen as an important step towards deepening India-Uruguay bilateral relations and promoting mutual cooperation. It is expected that this visit will lead to further exchanges between the two countries in the future.
