Raisina Dialogue 2025: Peru, India have a gravitational attraction, says Peru's Foreign Minister

Peru’s Foreign Minister Elmer Schialer Salcedo on Tuesday said that Peru and India have a gravitational attraction and that this natural affinity should be formalised through Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).

Salcedo expressed enthusiasm about the evolving relationship between India and Latin America, particularly with Peru, and highlighted the potential for increased collaboration in areas such as trade, security, and critical minerals.

He noted that Peru and India, both cradles of ancient civilizations, are currently negotiating an FTA, which he believes will pave the way for further joint initiatives.

Speaking at Firstpost’s IdeasPod as part of the annual Raisina Dialogue, Salcedo said, “We have, if you allow me, Peru and India have a gravitational attraction to themselves and this ought to be strengthened and formalised by FTAs,” said Salcedo, adding that Peru and India, both cradles of ancient civilizations, are currently negotiating an FTA, which he believes will pave the way for further joint initiatives.

Salcedo noted that Peru has successfully navigated the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and is now experiencing significant economic growth, reporting a GDP increase of 3.3% annually.

“Concerning Peru, in the economic aspect, I have to say that after the pandemic, which was a down for every single country in the world, we have recovered quite well. Then we had a two or three years of a stalled economic growth, but now we are growing at at a pace which is one of the best, 3.3 % GDP yearly in growth. One of the better numbers of Latin America. So we are working hard,” he said.

He described Peru’s diversified export economy, which is heavily reliant on minerals and agricultural products, including blueberries and asparagus, and acknowledged the persistent challenges of poverty that require both wealth generation and equitable distribution.

“We have a very diversified export economy which is basically based in minerals, several minerals amongst them, many of these so-called critical minerals… and of course Agri business. We are now world leaders in two or three agricultural products, like for example blueberries or asparagus, or even artichokes. So I think we are doing quite well. We of course need to grow much more. The needs in Peru are still large. We have roughly under 1/3 of the population living under so-called poverty line, which we of course didn’t have to do two things, generate wealth, generate richness, and then distribute this richness, this worth accordingly. That is what we are now doing.” added Peru’s Foreign Minister.

Discussing Peru’s involvement in various trade agreements, Salcedo mentioned the country’s participation in APEC, CPTPP, and Mercosur, which collectively account for 94% of Peru’s trade.

“We have 23 agreements signed with many countries of all parts of the world that cover basically 94% of our trade. So in this sense, unless there’s something very, very serious going on, we have a very stable scenario for our products. That doesn’t mean that we are actively looking for alternatives that in one case we have we should we have problems or there would be problems in one or two areas, how can we reconduct those those products. Luckily enough, Peru is basically a prime matter or commodity exporting country. We are striving to become also an exporting country of more specialised products. But right now our products can be easily reconducted in one or the other areas. Should one of these third area have a problem,” he said.

On the geopolitical front, Salcedo addressed concerns regarding increasing competition between the US and China in Latin America.

He argued that while some perceive a rivalry, Peru remains focused on development and maintaining an “active neutrality.” With trade between China and Peru currently surpassing that with the US, Salcedo pointed to substantial investment opportunities in Peru’s infrastructure and mining sectors, inviting Indian investors to participate.

As discussions turned to critical minerals, Salcedo highlighted Peru’s reserves of zinc, copper, and lithium, expressing a desire to increase local processing capabilities to retain value within the country.