New Delhi [India], April 1 (ANI): The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) held a special briefing on Tuesday on the sidelines of the visit of Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font to India and noted key areas of collaboration between the two countries. The briefing highlighted the two countries aiming to strengthen partnership in critical minerals sector, and research on Antarctica amongst other areas.

The briefing was chaired by MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, Secretary (East) P Kumaram, Ambassador in Chile, Abhilasha Joshi and Praphullachandra Sharma, Joint Secretary (Latin America and Caribbean).

Speaking on the area of partnership in critical minerals, P Kumaram highlighted that '24 per cent of Copper of the world output is out of Chile, and 30 per cent of the world's lithium comes out of Chile.'

He noted that mining contributes about 13 per cent to Chile's GDP, and said 'These are areas of interest to India because these are materials that are critical to developing new and emerging technologies such as EVs, battery technologies, new generation batteries that can increase range. so all these are naturally of great importance to us.'

In his remarks, he mentioned that critical minerals are very important and highlighted the MoU signed between India and Chile for partnership in the critical mineral sector.

He observed that critical minerals are also a part of the CEPA discussions.

'This will naturally involve Indian investments, possibly some kind of value addition in Chile. Chilean side is very keen that investors come and add value in Chile before taking the refined material out of Chile', Kumram said.

Speaking about Antarctica, Kumaram said, 'There is a lot of interest on our side in Antarctica. Chile is very well-placed geographically when it comes to Antarctica. Chile offers itself as a natural partner for us to understand Antarctica better and the challenges associated with polar regions. So obviously we are very keen to work with Chile in the area of Antarctic research.'

He highlighted that PM Modi and the Chilean President held discussions on the latter's visit and experience of Antarctica last year and asked PM Modi to visit Chile sometime and undertake a visit to Antarctica.

Speaking about CEPA, he noted that India's interests include areas such as expanding agricultural exports, securing critical minerals, and on the Chilean side, the interest is on exporting some of their agricultural products that are not necessarily available in our market. He added that there is also an interest on the Chilean side to try and diversify their trade partners to include other large emerging economies.

At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Boric's visit from April 1-5 is aimed at strengthening economic, political, and cultural ties. He is accompanied by a high-level delegation, including ministers, members of parliament, senior officials, business leaders, media representatives, and cultural figures engaged in India-Chile exchanges. (ANI)