Union Minister of State, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat welcomed visiting delegates and congratulated Chile for successfully holding the Presidential, Parliamentary and regional elections in November and December, 2017, on Tuesday in New Delhi.
Expressing happiness at the relationship of the 2 countries the 2 leaders also discussed that there is a huge unrealized potential, given the complementarities of the two economies, and resolved to make the best use of the Expanded India-Chile Preferential Trade Agreement which began in May 2017 to facilitate increase in bilateral trade volume.
Recalling that the two countries have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation in the field of Phytosanitary Measures, the two leaders also discussed the progress in this area Chile was requested to send trial shipments of blueberries and avocado to India for evaluation, while market access has been provided for coconut fibre and its products from India.
Shekhawat also requested Chile to complete the Pest Risk Analysis for pomegranate (fruits and arils), basmati rice, pineapple, gherkins and groundnut, and suggested consideration of other processed items of food such as canned fruits, fruit pulp and juices, Indian sweets, packaged snack foods, and ready-to-eat meals that India could export to Chile.