India and Venezuela chart wider cooperation beyond oil, targeting trade, minerals, health and digital tech as both nations reaffirm shared global positions and pledge deeper multilateral coordination
India and Venezuela on Wednesday renewed their commitment to deepening bilateral ties across a wide spectrum of sectors, as senior officials from both countries met in New Delhi for the 5th India–Venezuela Foreign Office Consultations (FOC). The talks, held against the backdrop of shifting global energy dynamics and growing interest in alternative trade corridors, focused on expanding cooperation in trade, health and pharmaceuticals, digital technology, agriculture, culture, and development partnership.
The Ministry of External Affairs said both sides also placed strong emphasis on boosting people-to-people exchanges and reaffirmed their intention to work more closely in multilateral forums where New Delhi and Caracas often share convergent positions on political and economic issues. The consultations, co-chaired by P. Kumaran, Secretary (East) at the MEA, and Tatiana Josefina Pugh Moreno, Venezuela’s Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, provided what officials described as a “comprehensive review” of bilateral cooperation and future priorities.
India and Venezuela marked 65 years of diplomatic relations in 2024, with resident embassies operating in each other’s capitals for more than four decades. The MEA said the FOC demonstrated the “warm and cordial” nature of the relationship and highlighted the potential for expansion beyond historical areas of engagement, particularly oil and energy. The next round of consultations will be held in Caracas on a mutually convenient date.
Venezuela looks to broaden economic ties
While energy cooperation has long been at the heart of India–Venezuela relations, Caracas has signalled growing interest in diversifying its economic engagement with India. This was echoed during Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s recent meeting with Venezuelan Minister of Ecological Mining Development Hector Silva in Visakhapatnam on the sidelines of the 30th CII Partnership Summit.
According to the Commerce Ministry, Venezuela is eager to collaborate on critical minerals, encourage Indian investment and expand partnerships previously limited by the country’s financial isolation. Goyal stressed the need to revive the India–Venezuela Joint Committee Mechanism — inactive for a decade — to give structure and momentum to these ambitions.
He noted that ONGC’s existing operations in Venezuela provide a strong platform for deeper cooperation in mining and exploration. “There is clear scope for expansion if the mechanisms are restored and if businesses are given predictable conditions,” an official familiar with the discussions said.
Goyal also proposed that Venezuela consider adopting the Indian Pharmacopoeia to ease regulatory hurdles in pharmaceutical trade — a move that could significantly bolster India’s already robust pharma exports to Latin America. He further highlighted opportunities for collaboration in the automobile sector, particularly as Indian manufacturers seek new markets amid global supply-chain restructuring.
India, which benefited from imports of Venezuelan heavy crude after the United States eased some sanctions in 2024, has been looking to strengthen economic engagement with Caracas. Venezuela’s Vice-President and Petroleum Minister Delcy Rodríguez visited India earlier this year during Energy India Week, meeting Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and other officials to push for a broader energy partnership — part of Caracas’s effort to stabilise its economy and attract foreign investment.
For New Delhi, Venezuela remains a key potential supplier as India seeks to diversify energy sources and reduce exposure to geopolitical shocks. But officials also stress that expanding ties requires building credible frameworks for investment protection, regulatory stability, and improved logistics links between Latin America and South Asia.
A convergence of economic philosophy
Addressing the CII Summit in Visakhapatnam, Goyal spoke more broadly about India’s approach to the shifting global economic order, saying the world “stands to gain” by partnering closely with India as it strengthens economic linkages that deliver “shared prosperity”. He outlined three broad pillars for expanding global cooperation: facilitating two-way investments, strengthening technological partnerships and building trust by ensuring predictable and rule-based engagement.
These principles also shape India’s outreach to Venezuela, where both sides see potential in scaling up cooperation beyond hydrocarbons to include digital technology, agriculture, health, and development projects — areas discussed at the FOC. Diplomatic officials said the consultations reflected “mature, stable and evolving” ties rooted in decades of engagement and shared positions at global platforms.
