Indian foreign minister Jaishankar woos Paraguayan companies as he inaugurates Indian embassy in Asuncion

Indian external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Monday (22) said the establishment of a resident Indian embassy in Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, will “spur an expansion” of economic engagements between India and Paraguay, as he wooed Paraguayan companies to invest in the country.

Jaishankar, who is on his first-ever official visit to South America aimed at boosting overall bilateral ties with the region, is also the first Indian foreign minister to visit Paraguay, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the beginning of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

He also inaugurated a resident Indian embassy in Paraguay and said its establishment will take bilateral ties to a higher level.

The Indian embassy in Paraguay began functioning from January this year.

“The establishment of a resident Indian Embassy will spur an expansion of our economic engagement. Trade and investment will be the focus of our bilateral activities,” Jaishankar said while addressing a business gathering in Asuncion in the presence of Paraguay’s minister of commerce and industry Luis Alberto Castiglioni.

“Invited Paraguayan business to explore opportunities in India. Confident that Indian businesses will be equally active in Paraguay,” he added.

Earlier, the minister said that beyond economy, there are other areas where the two sides can work together such as culture, civil society, health, education and traditional medicine.

“We had a very good exchange of views on the state of the world. Our shared commitment to international rules-based order, a world which respects international law, which respects agreements, which supports multilateralism,” Jaishankar said, in a veiled reference to China.

In Sao Paulo, Brazil, Jaishankar on Saturday (20) said that China has disregarded the border pacts with India, casting a shadow on the bilateral ties as he asserted that a lasting relationship cannot be a one-way street and there has to be mutual respect.