At the invitation of the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, the President of Paraguay, His Excellency Mr. Santiago Peña Palacios, paid a State Visit to India from 2 to 4 June 2025. This was President Peña's first visit to India, in commemoration of the 64th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. President Peña was accompanied by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Industry and Trade, members of Parliament, the Governor of the Department of Amambay and other senior officials. In addition to New Delhi, President Peña visited the city of Mumbai.
2. President Peña was accorded a warm and solemn welcome upon his arrival at Palam Air Force Station. Prime Minister Modi held bilateral talks with President Peña at Hyderabad House on 2 June 2025. The Honourable President Smt. Droupadi Murmu met with President Peña and hosted a banquet in his honour and that of his delegation. The Honourable Vice President Shri Jagdeep Dhankar and External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar visited President Peña.
3. Prime Minister Modi and President Peña discussed the evolution of diplomatic relations between Paraguay and India, established in 1961. The two leaders held a comprehensive discussion on the entire spectrum of bilateral relations, including trade and investment, health and pharmaceuticals, defence and security, infrastructure, mining and mineral resources, agriculture and food security, green energy, ICTs, digitalization, innovation, disaster management, science and technology, education and links between peoples.
4. India and Paraguay have worked closely together in multilateral forums, including the United Nations, and maintain close convergence on issues of global importance. In this regard, both countries have expressed their willingness to continue working together on matters of common interest before the various multilateral organizations.
5. Both leaders expressed their determination to further strengthen cooperation, including as countries in the Global South. Acknowledging Paraguay's participation in the Voice of the Global South conferences, both expressed their desire to work closely together to achieve sustainable growth and development goals for the peoples of both countries.
6. Prime Minister Modi expressed his deep appreciation to Paraguay for its strong condemnation of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, as well as for the sincere condolences and solidarity expressed with the people and government of India. Both leaders unequivocally condemned terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations. On behalf of the Paraguayan people, President Peña expressed his deep solidarity with the victims and families of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam and recognized India’s legitimate right for self defence. Both sides stressed the urgent need for a united international response to terrorism and stressed that such heinous acts have no justification.
7. Both leaders reiterated their desire to support multilateralism and international cooperation in the fight against terrorism within the framework of the United Nations. Paraguay is a member of the FATF Latin America (GAFILAT) and its Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) is a member of the Egmont group. President Peña expressed his support to for India in counter-terrorism initiatives in regional and multinational organizations, including Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) within the framework of the United Nations.
8. The leaders of India and Paraguay agreed that the misuse of the internet, social media and cyberspace represents a growing challenge, particularly because of its impact on young and vulnerable populations. Both sides expressed their commitment to strengthening multilateral cooperation in cybersecurity.
9. Acknowledging the key role that trade and investment play in strengthening bilateral relations, the two leaders agreed on the importance of deepening these ties and instructed their respective teams to work together for their expansion. In this context, both sides agreed to maintain a technical dialogue between competent authorities in order to address market access issues, explore areas of cooperation in sectors of mutual interest and exchange information.
10. Both sides also noted their interest in strengthening and expanding existing trade links under the India-MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), for which India and Paraguay agreed to work together to harness the potential of this economic partnership, deepen market access and trade facilitation and thus, enhance emerging trade synergies between the regions.
11. Highlighting the importance of the agricultural and livestock sector in their respective national economies and in bilateral cooperation, both leaders expressed their interest in continuing to explore possibilities for cooperation in areas of common interest. In this context, they referred to the Memorandum of Understanding under discussion, which envisages to establish a framework for collaboration that facilitates the exchange of experiences and good practices aimed at improving agricultural yield and increasing the income of producers.
12. Both India and Paraguay noted the interest of the Paraguayan Space Agency (AEP) in collaborating with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in the development and launch of CubeSats using ISRO's launch vehicles, in addition to the development and implementation of Earth observation applications. Both countries agreed to intensify commercial space cooperation among stakeholders from their respective space ecosystems in areas such as launch services, space applications, satellite manufacturing, and capability development. The two sides exchanged views on the importance of signing a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space. In this regard, they agreed on the need to continue working on this initiative. President Peña, for his part, expressed appreciation for the training offered by India to a Paraguayan official at the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS).
13. Both parties recognized the potential to strengthen cooperation in the field of higher education and agreed that a memorandum of understanding could be explored to collaborate in areas such as curriculum development, teacher capacity building, infrastructure support, and digital education initiatives in areas of interest to Paraguay. India's experience in implementing scalable and inclusive education platforms, along with its expertise in low-cost digital infrastructure and multilingual content delivery, could be leveraged to support Paraguay's efforts to reduce income disparities, reduce dropout rates, and improve the quality of education in marginalized areas.
14. Prime Minister Modi and President Peña stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation in the field of creative industries. They recognized the potential of the audiovisual co-production agreement and to advance in its implementation, highlighting its potential to generate important benefits, such as access to government incentives and subsidies, greater market coverage, audience development, facilitation of joint initiatives, access to strategic locations and cost optimization. This collaboration is expected to contribute to the strengthening of the audiovisual sectors of both countries.
15. Prime Minister Modi invited Paraguay to collaborate in the field of traditional medicine, as well as to intensify the promotion and use of evidence-based traditional and integrative medicine.
16. Prime Minister Modi expressed his satisfaction with the incorporation of Paraguay as a founding member of the Global Biofuels Alliance (GBA). Both leaders, recognizing the fundamental role of sustainable energy sources, agreed to collaborate across the biofuels and green hydrogen value chain, including research, joint project development, technology transfer, exchange of best practices and harmonization of sectoral standards, both bilaterally and multilaterally. India offered technical consulting services to Paraguay throughout the hydrocarbon value chain, with the aim of achieving mutual benefit.
17. Both sides recognized the importance of cooperation in the critical minerals and rare earth sector. Paraguay and India agreed to explore investment opportunities in Paraguay's critical minerals sector, both at the G2G and B2B levels, including mineral resource exploration and production and critical minerals trading.
18. Prime Minister Modi welcomed the incorporation of Paraguay as the 100th member of the International Solar Alliance (ISA). in particular through NTPC's role as a Project Management Consultant (PMC) for the development of a Solar Park (2 plants of 200 MW and 1 of 100 MW totaling 500 MW) since 2021, which could be financed by financial institutions such as India's Exim Bank. They expressed hope that the project will move towards completion soon.
19. Prime Minister Modi invited Paraguay to join the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), a growing global alliance of 43 countries and seven organizations dedicated to improving the resilience of infrastructure systems to the escalation of climate and disaster risks.
20. Both leaders recognized the role of cultural ties in bringing the peoples of both countries closer together. Both appreciated the continuous cultural exchanges between the two nations. They highlighted the mutual interest in strengthening cultural cooperation between India and Paraguay and cooperation between cultural institutions. In this regard, they recognized the relevance of the ongoing talks for the signing of a Cultural Exchange Program that promotes bilateral exchanges in music, dance, theater, literature, museums and festivals.
21. Both leaders agreed on the importance of maintaining regular interaction on matters of mutual interest. They reiterated their readiness to seize opportunities to promote and expand the bilateral ties of cooperation and understanding that characterize the bilateral relationship in all areas of mutual interest. In this regard, both leaders welcomed the establishment of the Joint Commission Mechanism (JCM) at the level of Vice ministers. The JCM will serve as an important platform to review and explore collaboration in various sectors of common interest.
22. President Santiago Peña Palacios thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the warmth and hospitality extended to him and his delegation during the State Visit and invited Prime Minister Modi to pay a State Visit to Paraguay at a mutually convenient time.
New Delhi
June 04, 2025