India to hold talks from foreign mins of Chile, Cuba,Venezuela

At the first meeting with the troika of foreign ministers of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), the Indian delegation will be led by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna.

Chilean Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno Charme, his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro and Cuban Vice Foreign Minister Rogelio Sierra will be the members of the troika.

Chile holds the pro-tempore Presidency of CELAC till January 2013.

Thirty-three countries of Latin America and the Caribbean region, which has a combined GDP of USD 4.9 trillion, joined hands only in December last year to form the CELAC which has emerged as a powerful platform the resurgent nations.

From a mere USD 2 billion in 2000, bilateral trade with the region has crossed a USD 25 billion and cumulative Indian investments in the region are estimated to be of the order of around USD 16 billion mostly in hydrocarbons, minerals, agriculture, pharma and IT.

China's trade and investments in the region are to the order of USD 200 billion.

Latin America, which has 15 per cent of global oils reserves, contributes significantly to India's crude oil imports.

CELAC has a land mass five times that of India and is endowed with vast mineral resources and hydrocarbons. It has about 600 million inhabitants.