Vande Bharat to chug in Paraguay

Visiting Paraguay President Santiago Pena Palacios has expressed keen interest in importing India’s Vande Bharat trains and extended an invitation for India to participate in the Central Bi-Oceanic Railway Corridor project, which aims to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw confirmed Paraguay’s interest in Vande Bharat after he called on the visiting dignitary to explore possible areas of cooperation in the Railways sector.

The Vande Bharat Express, first launched in 2019, as part of the Union Government’s “Make in India” initiative, is manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai and has a maximum speed of 160 kmph. It operates with different travel classes.

On Tuesday, President Palacios also visited Mumbai to engage industry leaders for potential investments and met, among others, Chairman Trident group Rajinder Gupta. The meeting focused on Paraguay’s interest in attracting investors in home textiles, chemicals, pulp and paper sectors.

Palacios, the only Paraguay President to visit India, commenced his three-day State visit with a bilateral meeting with Prime Minster Narendra Modi on Monday.

During talks, Palacios strongly condemned the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack and expressed solidarity with the Indians. PM Modi also asserted that India and Paraguay stood united in the fight against terrorism. The PM said both countries could work together to further expand preferential trade agreement with other South American countries and their trading bloc MERCOSUR, a trading bloc in South America.

“We see new opportunities for cooperation in areas such as digital technology, critical minerals, energy, agriculture, healthcare, defence, railways, space and overall economic partnership. We have a Preferential Trade Agreement with MERCOSUR. We can work together to further expand it,” the PM said in opening remarks at delegation-level talks with Palacios.

President Droupadi Murmu hosted a banquet in the honour of the visiting head of state and said as part of the Global South, India and Paraguay faced similar developmental challenges.

She said India was using technology as an enabler for sustainable development, equitable access to technologies and reduction of the digital divide.

“India would be happy to share its experiences in the area of digital public infrastructure with Paraguay,” she said. The two sides have signed an MoU in dairy and agriculture.

PM Modi and President Palacios also discussed enhancing cooperation in agriculture, pharma, technology, renewable energy, health, critical minerals, railways, people-to-people contacts and agreed to the establishment of Joint Commission Mechanism (JCM). Two-way trade between India and Paraguay was worth $477 million during 2022-23, with Indian exports accounting for $317 million.