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4 Message: Mauricio Macri, President of Argentina

5 Message: Jorge Faurie, Foreign Affairs Minister

6 Message: Daniel Chuburu, Ambassador of Argentina to India

8 Argentina seeks to better strategic ties with India

10 India-Argentina economic partnership

11 Strengthening long-term economic relations

16 Microfi nance in the bilateral relations between India and Argentina

19 The immigration from India to Argentina

25 India-Argentina: Past and present of an enduring passion

29 Academic cooperation between Argentina and India

32 Development of Ayurvedic Medicine in Argentina

34 Yerba Mate Tea, with Love from Argentina

35 Wines of Argentina: Mendoza’s Marvellous Malbec

36 Strengthening bilateral relations in culture

38 The many wonders of Argentina

39 The Baguala: From the Argentine Puna to the Himalayas Mountains

42 La Pegasus Polo Argentina Tour of India

The Embassy of the Argentine Republic thanks to the following sponsors

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Offi cial Name Argentine Republic

Political system Federal Republic, with presidential system.

Capital City City of Buenos Aires

Location Southern half of South America.

Area 2.780.400 sq km.

Population 43.847.000 (est.2018)

Language Spanish

Exports Agriculture goods (cereals, edible oils, etc), processed foods, industrial goods (vehicle and auto parts, among others), minerals (gold, copper, lithium)

Climate Large variety of climates: tropical, hot, warm, arid and cold climates can be found in diff erent parts of the country.

Currency Peso

Country Code +54

Time Zone UTC-3

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FACT FILE

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BUILDING CONSENSUS FOR FAIR AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

FROM THE DESK OF PRESIDENT OF ARGENTINA

On behalf of the Argentine people, it is my honour to welcome you to Argentina’s G20 presidency.We are proud to have this opportunity to show our commitment to international cooperation,

multilateralism, and global governance. We will steer the G20’s eff orts throughout our presidency in the spirit of an honest broker.

When we meet in Buenos Aires in 2018, 10 years will have passed since the fi rst Leaders’ Summit in Washington DC. This tenth anniversary challenges us to refl ect upon all the G20 has accomplished, as well as how its eff ectiveness as a key forum for global macroeconomic coordination and governance can be sustained. If we are to solve the challenges of today and tomorrow, we need to act with that same sense of urgency that brought us together in 2008.

With a people-centered vision, Argentina will place development, fairness, and sustainability at the forefront of the G20 agenda. We will devote our best eff orts to deliver on the task our partners entrusted us by leading the G20 under the theme “Building consensus for fair and sustainable development”.

The world has changed in a fundamental way. Globalization has transformed our economies, societies and work practices. Yes, it has been a cornerstone of growth and development. But its benefi ts have not been shared equally. This is the moment when we must renew our commitments with the broader goal of leaving no one behind. This is the moment to build new bridges across the globe.

I look forward to welcoming my fellow Leaders in Buenos Aires on November 30 and December 1, 2018, and to working with them to help shape our shared future.

Mauricio MacriPresident of Argentina

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FROM THE DESK OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER

BUILDING BRIDGES ACROSS THE WORLDThe Government of President Mauricio Macri, from the be-

ginning of his administration, had a clear objective: Put Argentina back on the global map. This goal means to restore reliable ties with other nations and to develop an intelligent insertion policy, focused on concrete interests but at the same time based on values such as democracy, human rights, and multilateralism.

In this sense, we are convinced that the Argentine Presidency of the G-20 (2018) is the most important demonstration, although not the only one, that the above-mentioned goal is being achieved and will allow our country to present our own perspective from the South to the world.

The G-20 is the main forum for international economic, financial and political cooperation that counts with the participation of the top world leaders. It is a key space, shared with India, where debates and concrete decisions about the main global economic and political challenges take place.

Argentina is proud to be a member of the G-20 and to have been elected to preside it until December 2018. It will be an honor for Argentines to receive the maximum leaders of the world politics in Buenos Aires on November 30th.

For Argentina, the political and economic relationship with India is a priority. Our link is historical but it has a lot to develop towards the future. The bilateral commercials perspectives are promising with a trade balance that exceeded the 2900 million dollars in 2017 which ranks India as the sixth destination for Argentine exports, with an increasing number of Indian companies based in Argentina, particularly in the sectors of machinery and equipment, computer services IT, and chemical industry.

I am sure that both nations have wide opportunities to deepen and diversify trade and investment, political understandings and technical cooperation between Argentina-India.

Moreover, from the MERCOSUR, our country has the will to extend the Agreement of Preferential Trade with India in a substantial manner and develop the possibility of commercial agreements, putting special attention in the synergies and complementarities of the productive sectors of both regions.

Argentina is the third largest economy in Latin America, with the second highest GDP per capita of the region and a population of more than 43 million inhabitants. It is the eighth

larger country in the world with 53 percent of arable land and the highest levels of agricultural productivity in the world. Our country ranks number one in Latin America in the Human Development and Education index. In addition, it has now recovered the possibility of having reliable indicators of basic statistics to measure infl ation rates, employment, and poverty.

We believe that our intelligent insertion at a global level should not be unidirectional. Currently, no country tends to aim to a single destination but points in several directions. Our opportunities are very broad and extend from the United States, China, Russia, and the European Union to the Asian and African markets. We look for future new partners. Therefore today we are in trade negotiations with almost 50 percent of global GDP.

In a world characterised by a growing global interdependence, both political and economic -defi ned by the movement of capital, goods and people, a growing exchange of data and instant digital communications - the combination of political, economic, fi nancial, commercial and technological trends are shortening distances, opening borders and connecting distant cultures and economies.

During the presidency of the G-20, Argentina has the purpose to establish a constructive framework for dialogue and consensus based on an agenda that will focus on education and the jobs of the future, along with the debates on fair trade, fi nance, technological revolution, gender, energy, and environmental issues among others.

In this framework, the Argentine presidency will present the perspective of the developing countries and especially of the Latin American countries, with their interests and concerns, and highlighting the great potential of our peoples and nations. Argentina’s priorities refl ect its identity as a multicultural country whose vision of the future lies in greater integration and exchange with the world.

We know that preside the G-20 is not an easy task. The consensus is not always assured, but we are convinced that this is what the G20 is for: gathering diff erent visions and taking on the challenge to obtain shared benefi ts. That is why we want to build bridges, not walls.

Jorge Faurie, Foreign Aff airs Minister, Argentina

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ARGENTINA AND INDIATOWARDS 70 YEARS OF FRIENDSHIP

As we are celebrating our National Day, I believe it is a great occasion to send a message regarding my country, what is taking place this year in Argentina within the diplomatic landscape and to express some thoughts and ideas on the bilateral relations between our country and India.

Argentina is a young country, with only 200 years of independence. A country with almost the same size as India (but with a population of only 44.5 million), we are located at the far south of the world, at the end of Latin America. Our main language, Spanish, is spoken by almost 400 million people around the world. We enjoy all types of climates and landscapes, making Argentina an incredible destination for tourism. Although we are far away from India, we share some common values: democracy, plurality, family, and spirituality. This brings us closer in some way and helps us bridge the gap that distance imposes.

In the diplomatic sphere, this year Argentina is heading the G20, which is the group that brings together the largest

economies of the world. On November 30th and December 1st, the Leader´s Summit will take place in our capital city, Buenos Aires, gathering the Heads of State and Government of all its members. This will be the last step of a year that has been full of meetings and interactions both at the governmental and civil society levels. Argentina has been trying to express the views from the south during this year and articulated an agenda with three main issues: future of work, infrastructure for development and food security.

Along with this journey, India has been an important voice, and we have worked together during all the year in a constructive and positive manner. The role of India is a very important one, not only due to its size but also as a developing country. We have to unify forces in order to have a good representation of developing countries at the level of the G-20. I would like to use this occasion to express my appreciation and thanks for the support of India during this year.

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FROM THE DESK OF AMBASSADOR

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The need for a strategic dialogueThe world that we are facing is setting unprecedented

challenges for developing countries like Argentina and India. Protectionism (exercised by many actors and in many diff erent manners), tensions in the fi eld of trade and resort to unilateral measures are creating risks for multilateralism and the rules-based international order. Geopolitical rivalries and instability in many parts of the world, due to socio-economic tensions or the lack of a fair distribution of the goods produced by free trade and globalization also has the potential to threaten peace and stability. And we shall not forget the unique challenge that climate change represents for all of us.

This is the world in which development strategies are to be managed. As Argentina and India both embrace the same values of democracy, pluralism, and tolerance and believe in development as the key to a better future, we must move through this path together, as partners. This is why it is our goal to strengthen our bilateral ties and take them a step further, achieving a Strategic Dialogue based on mutually benefi cial cooperation. Two areas must be the key focus of this partnership: food and energy security. We are fully aware that these are two main goals for India. Argentina wants to partner India in this strategic sense in order to help is achieve its two main goals.

This strategic dialogue must be achieved through high added value in the fields of agro-technology and food security, mining, science, energy security, peaceful uses of nuclear energy and of outer space, defense and security, and including off course cultural exchanges and education. In an uncertain, rapidly changing and complex world, Argentina and India must be strategic partners. We must deeply explore the complementarities between our two countries, specially within the fi elds of IT and agro-technology.

There is a great potential to strengthen the bilateral commercial relationship with India not only in terms of trade but also in terms of technical cooperation and investments. This said we must be aware that the commercial relationship has to be improved, and more investments of Indian companies are needed. Argentina off ers a great opportunity for these investments, with highly developed human resources and a vast amount of natural resources.

With regard to food security, Argentina has been able to achieve agricultural development in fi elds like machinery, molecular biology, and genetic engineering, in order to generate effi cient integration in global value chains. Agri technology is also one of our major developments, and we are willing to share it with India and all its farmers. In this regard, cooperation in the areas of increased productivity and post-harvest management (particularly storage) also off er an opportunity for both countries to work together as partners.

In the fi eld of energy, we believe that non-conventional resources located at “Vaca Muerta” will be key in the near future for India´s energy security. Also, in Argentina, there are great investment opportunities for copper and lithium, and we are ready to provide these strategic assets to India.

I would also like to emphasize that Argentina also off ers possibilities of cooperation in highly advanced and technological areas, such as peaceful uses of nuclear energy and outer-space. The company INVAP is currently working on a radioisotope plant in Mumbai, for example. Argentina has also developed and built state of the art radars for airspace control. We are willing to share all these technologies and developments with India, working together according to its own needs and requirements.

I fi rmly believe that we need better strategic ties and a deeper involvement of India not only in our country but also in all Latin America.

Towards 70Next year will mark a special occasion: we will be

celebrating 70 years of bilateral relations and friendship between Argentina and India. The world sets us great challenges, but also a great opportunity. We must use this opportunity to set the stage for the future of our bilateral relationship, and also look back to consolidate all that has been achieved. We are getting ready to celebrate with India and its people this great occasion.

I would like to express my best wishes for our common future, which I am sure will fi nd us together seeking the welfare of our people.

Daniel Chuburu, Ambassador of Argentina to India

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Both India and Argentina are working towards expansion of bilateral dialogue and cooperation in an eff ort to take it to the strategic partnership level.

The trade between the two countries has been low but has been picking up since the new administration has come in and the bilateral trade is tilting towards Argentina at $2.5 billion. With the new government under President Mauricio Macri, expectations were high as investors were expecting major incentives for foreign investors and mining, railways, shale gas and agro-products are areas where Indian businesses will benefi t.

Despite the fact that the two countries will be celebrating 70 years of their relationship soon, the expansion of bilateral trade is very important. Marci administration is working to diversify the trade basket with India so that there is balanced trade.

At various forums, acknowledging that India is a major economy, Daniel Chuburu, Ambassador of Republic of

Argentina to India, has been saying said that the two major democracies need to focus on strengthening strategic relations and co-operation in various sectors including automotive, mining (lithium, gold, and copper), pharmaceuticals, railways, agro-business, and oil & gas exploration, earth science, and biotechnology.

For India’s food security, Argentina has off ered to work with India for a deeper and stronger partnership for the future of agriculture. Apart from the natural resources, there is a continuous improvement happening on the seeds, technology, and other input fronts by the institutions involved in the sector and also due to the initiatives of the enterprising individuals.

India’s food crisis can surely be lessened by growing some of the relevant crops like wheat, rice, pulses, and oilseeds in Argentina.

The country has the technology to help India improve agriculture productivity, food storage and reduce post-harvest losses of farm produce. With the rise in the standard of living,

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ARGENTINA SEEKS TO BETTER STRATEGIC TIES WITH INDIA

By Huma Siddiqui*

Argentine President Mauricio Macri meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany

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consumption needs also rise. Argentina is also off ering to provide the increasing needs for protein intake. Lipotech, an Argentine company, is seeking investments in India. Lipotech works on adding minerals in dairy products, like milk.

Argentina has developed cutting-edge farm technologies and biotechnologies which can help India improve agriculture productivity and reduce post-harvest losses of farm produce, as well as easing of phytosanitary norms. Both sides are having discussions on projects related to agro-business including pulses which are mostly going to help in India’s food security. The country has introduced their apples and pears in the Indian market by getting in 2000 tonnes.

Interestingly, a local pharmaceutical company has developed a vaccine to control ‘cow sadness’. Soon, through an agreement being worked between the Institute of Agriculture Technology of Argentina and the local partners, it will be produced in India under Prime Minister Modi’s `Make in India’ initiative.

Argentina has opened the mining sector for Foreign Direct Investments (FDI)—whether it is for Lithium or gold or copper. Lithium is the major raw material for batteries used in electric cars and India has set a goal to shift to manufacture of electric vehicles on a large scale by 2030.

ONGC-OVL and the state-owned oil company of Argentina are in an advanced stage of discussion to explore investment opportunities in newly-discovered reserves of shale gas and shale oil.

India’s exports to Argentina comprise organic chemicals, vehicles, and auto parts, lubricants, machinery, sound and image devices and fabrics among others. India’s imports from Argentina are soybean oil, sunfl ower oil, leather, wool, and ferroalloys.

Imports from India are relatively diversifi ed, mainly manufacturing (motorcycles and its components, supplies, equipment, and machinery, textiles, chemicals).

India-MERCOSURAll South American countries are linked to MERCOSUR

(Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay), either as Member State or Associate member. Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador are associate members of MERCOSUR, in addition to Guyana and Suriname, which acquired this status in July 2013. Negotiations for the expansion of the India-MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), has been going on for long with no end in sight.

While the member countries involved have been keen on the expansion, the talks are not very ambitious. Current India-MERCOSUR PTA (2004-2009) is limited (450 and 452 tariff lines) which needs to be expanded. The expansion is expected to strengthen the trade relations between involved and the trade volume target is set at $30 billion by 2030. Both sides have agreed that there is an urgent need to signifi cantly increase the number of tariff lines in the existing India-MERCOSUR PTA so that the agreement could cover a

sizeable proportion of bilateral tradeArgentina as a member has been keen for an early

conclusion of the negotiations so that the trade increases with India.

Keeping in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strategy of expanding India’s trade basket, eff orts are on to expedite the negotiations. The two sides have been trying to have regular meetings, in fact, one round of negotiations is expected soon. There has been an agreement amongst all parties involved that there is an urgent need to signifi cantly increase the number of tariff lines in the existing India-MERCOSUR PTA so that the agreement could cover a sizeable proportion of bilateral trade.

According to Indian government offi cers, India is likely to see if it can add more tariff lines. India has exchanged a wish list of 4836 tariff lines at the 8-digit code with MERCOSUR and the MERCOSUR grouping has exchanged their wish list of 3358 tariff lines at 8-digit HS code.

The PTA is being proposed to be expanded as substantial scope exists for India and MERCOSUR to exp lore complementarities and benefi ts from increased bilateral trade. MERCOSUR stands to benefi t from India’s world-class capabilities in software and pharmaceutical industries and exports of agricultural products like soybean and corn. On the other hand, India can secure its oil and other natural resource needs by partnering with the grouping member countries.

The process of expansion was started earlier and the Wi s h L i s t s w e r e a l s o exchanged between India and MERCOSUR in 2010. However, the process of expansion could not proceed further. India had earlier exchanged its Wish List containing around 1287 tariff lines at an 8-digit code at HS 2007 nomenclature.

So far, India has offered tariff concessions on meat and meat products, organic and inorganic chemicals, dyes and pigments, raw hides and skins, leather articles, wool, cotton yarn, glass and glassware, articles of iron & steel, machinery items, electrical machinery, and equipment. And MERCOSUR has off ered tariff concession relate to food preparations, organic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, essential oils, plastics & rubber products, tools and implements, machinery items, electrical machinery, and equipment.

* The author is Senior Journalist, The Financial Express

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Argentina has opened the mining sector for Foreign Direct Investments (FDI)—whether it is for Lithium or gold or copper. Lithium is the major raw material for batteries used in electric cars and India has set a goal to shift to manufacture of electric vehicles on a large scale by 2030.

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India’s trade with Argentina was 2938 million US dollars in 2017-18, according to the Indian Ministry of Commerce. India had exported 709 million dollars and imported 2229

million.India’s main exports were chemicals, vehicles, textiles

and engineering items. There is scope for India to increase its exports to two billion dollars by 2025 if the Indian companies explore the export opportunities more seriously and systematically.

India’s major import from Argentina is edible oil which was 2064 million dollars in 2018. The other imports include chemicals, leather, cereals and pulses.

Argentina is the largest exporter of soy oil in the world while India is the largest global importer. India accounts for 40 percent of Argentine soy oil exports. Besides soy oil, India has also been importing small quantities of Argentine sunfl ower oil. India has been increasing its global edible oil imports steadily over the years and this trend is likely to continue in the future. Argentina has the capacity to increase its exports. In recent years, India has started sourcing pulses from Argentina, besides fresh fruits.

While India is self- suffi cient in cereals, it has perpetual and growing shortage of edible oil and pulses due to inadequate domestic production and increasing demand. India faces challenging agricultural issues such as relentless loss of agricultural land to urbanisation, water shortage and low yield. On the other hand, Argentina has the capacity to increase its land under cultivation and has abundant water reserves, world class technologies and best practices. Argentina is one of the global leaders in effi cient and innovative large scale farming.

Indian companies have invested in Argentina in sectors such as IT, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and manufactures of other products such as lenses and cosmetics. Advanta, the group company of UPL, the Indian agrochemical fi rm has a large Research and Development centre in Argentina for development of new varieties of seeds of corn, soy and sunfl ower. The Indian IT/BPO/KPO fi rms employ Argentine talents to do research and analysis for servicing Wall Street

clients among others. Argentina has one of the largest and most talented and skilled pool of manpower in Latin America.

Argentine fi rms had helped India with their technology and expertise to set up CNG bus fl eet and infrastructure in Delhi and. Globant, an Argentine IT fi rm has a global delivery centre in India and Techint, a steel conglomerate, has an off shore engineering service centre in Mumbai.

Gustavo Santaolalla, the famous Argentine music director had composed music for Aamir Khan’s fi lm “ Dhobi Ghat”. A Trivandrum-based IT fi rm Toonz Animation had made the software for a big budget Argentine cartoon fi lm in Spanish “Gaturro”. An Argentine fi lm director/producer Pablo Cesar has just released an Indo-Argentine joint venture fi lm “ Thinking of Him” based on the real story of Tagore’s visit to Buenos Aires and his encounter with Victoria Ocampo, an Argentine literary celebrity.

Although Argentina is currently going through some economic diffi culties, the country has the potential to re-emerge as a prosperous nation. It was, in fact, among the top ten richest countries of the world in the beginning of the twentieth century. The country is a global agricultural pow-erhouse, has a diversifi ed industrial base and a large science and technology base.

The Argentines attach importance to India which is the sixth largest destination of their exports. Argentina exports more to India than to their traditional trade partners such as Germany, UK, Japan, France, Spain or Italy. They see the promise of India as a large and growing market for their exports in the long term. They are serious practitioners of yoga, meditation and spiritualism. There are several thousands of followers of Sai Baba, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and other such Indian gurus. As the third largest economy in Latin America, Argentina off ers bright scope for India’s exports and investment. Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Argentina in November for the G-20 Summit off ers an opportunity for India to build a strong base for building a long term economic partnership.

* The author is former Indian Ambassador to Argentina

INDIA-ARGENTINA ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP

By R. Viswanathan*

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IntroductionThe economic dimension, specifically commercial,

allows an approach to the link between India and Argentina from diff erent angles, even though the material aspect of the exchange of goods and services predominates, at least primarily.

This article begins with the analysis of a fi rst aspect that is crucial in the link attaining bilateral trade and, especially, in the development of the opportunities for Argentina in this relationship. Following this, other relevant topics in the construction of a long-term growing link between both countries and that fuel the above mentioned are addressed. Finally, some remarks on how to moving ahead are done.

India-Argentina trade relation from a historical and structural perspective

From an Argentine perspective, in terms of the exchange of goods and services, that country has traditionally had a pattern of linkage associated with the export of commodities. This is due to the static comparative advantages that arise from its relative abundance of productive factors (soil, water, climate, capital, and human capital). This has led to

STRENGTHENING LONG-TERM ECONOMIC RELATIONS

By Juan Miguel Massot*

a pattern of inter-industry trade in which the country has had positive export balances in primary agricultural goods and manufactures of agricultural origin, while negative in industrial manufactures (Berlinski, 2000, Gerchunoff and Llach, 2004)1.

As pointed out by Gerchunoff and Llach (1999), the rise to dominant economic power of the United States after the Second World War supposed signifi cant negative consequences for this pattern of international economic relations, as well as undesired eff ects on internal economic, political and social balance (Massot, Rubini and Viñas, 2015, Massot et al., 2015: 33-60).

These changes, which aff ected not only Argentina but also almost all the countries of Latin America, promoted the beginning and development of a school of economic thought in the region known as Latin American structuralism, and which is associated with the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC) and its researchers, among who its founder, Argentine economist Raúl Prebisch (Iglesias, 1992; Thomas, 1994; Bielschowsky, 2010).

Regarding international economic relations, this approach proposed, among other issues, the concept “center-periphery”

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few trade chapters, in particular, oilseeds and vegetable oil. In the case of India, only one chapter concentrates more than 80% of exports.

Grubel-Lloyd Index is shown in Table 2. It can be seen that Argentina has an interindustrial pattern of trade with the vast majority of its trade partners, including India. Argentine exports are basically natural resource-based, meanwhile, imports are the industrial manufacturer.

of relations between developed and developing countries, and the “hypothesis of the deterioration of the terms of trade” with regard to the evolution of relative prices between primary and industrialized products. In terms of public policy recommendations, substitutive industrialization of imports was favored, as well as the economic integration of the countries of the region, in order to gain production scale and effi ciency.

The economic rise of great Asian countries such as China and India has led to a noticeable change in the global economic and fi nancial axis. Formerly located in the North Atlantic, with a few cases of rapid growth and development in Asia (Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore), commercial and fi nancial exchange has doubled its focal points incorporating the North Pacifi c and the Eastern Indian Ocean. This global geo-economic change has generated a renewed bias in the economies of Latin America, including Argentina, towards the deepening of its inter-industry trading patterns, based mainly on the export of raw materials and manufactured products with a high factorial content of natural resources (CEPAL, 2013).

While it is conceivable that countries with an abundance of natural resources can follow more complex production and trade patterns -such as the United States, Canada or Australia- and reach high levels of economic and social development, the fact is that in the past this has been the exception rather than the rule in Latin America (Massot et al., 2015).

Argentina-India merchandise exchange is one of the best examples of patterns based on the exchange of very diff erent kind of goods.

Table 1 shows the Argentine case with some partner exchange of merchandises in 2015. It can be seen that Argentine exports to Asian countries are concentrated in a

In 2017, for instance, more than 90% of the Argentine exports to India are vegetable oils; in addition, more than 50% of Argentine vegetable oil is destined to India, and around 50% of Indian imports of soybean oil are from Argentina. Argentine imports from India are more diversifi ed; despite the vast majority are manufactured goods.

However, other features of the Argentine exchange with Asian countries emerge from current fi gures. In spite of the global merchandise balance with Asia is negative, Argentina has a surplus with some countries. Trade surplus and defi cits with Asia are shown in Table 3. First, the Argentine defi cit with Asia is determined by defi cit with China (81%). Second, Argentine has a relevant surplus with some Asian countries, like Vietnam and India. Finally, the merchandise defi cit with China is larger than the total trade surplus with Asian countries with a negative balance with Argentina.

Regarding those facts, and based on the Argentine economic history, some questions emerge about the future of the bilateral relations.

Challenging the past and the factsThe international economic changes stemmed from the

undoubted growth of Asian economies has raised a series of questions about the development of some Latin American countries that have achieved a relatively complex and articulated industrial structure, such as Argentina.

Chapter at 80%Exports Imports

India 1 13China 2 9ASEAN 2 10Japan 6 5EU 9 11Russia 5 2SA 4 8US 16 9Brazil 12 11Chile 19 15Average 7,6 9,3General / Total 17 14

Country Partner Grubel-Lloyd IndexIndia 0,049China 0,029ASEAN 0.048Japan 0,053EU 0,135Russia 0,022SA 0,174US 0,293Brazil 0,590Chile 0,280Average 0,167General / Total 0,333

Table 1. Exchange of merchandise concentration by chapters. Argentina 2015.

Table 2. Grubel-Lloyd Index. Argentina 2015

Source: Own elaboration based on Secretariat of Commerce Database of Argentina.

Source: Own elaboration based on Secretariat of Commerce Database of Argentina.

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Firstly, whether Argentina will once again be a net provider of commodities and will buy from Asian countries the majority of manufactured goods, including industrial supplies and machinery necessary not only for its productive activity but for social life in general2 as well.

Secondly, whether it is possible an alternative path to that economic linkage scheme between India and Argentina, and whether trade surplus countries will turn into structural defi cits as the case with China.

Finally, whether it would be possible to accelerate economic and social development, despite trade pattern with Asia were almost entirely inter-industrial.

Following Massot (2017), these questions and their preliminary responses allow us to project other dimensions of economic relations between countries such as India and Argentina. Therefore, they open wider paths to understanding how the economic link between both countries can evolve

Merchandise Balance (defi cit). Year 2017China -7989 81%Thailand -733 7%Japan -421 4%Korea -337 3%Singapore -79 1%Sri Lanka -6 0%Cambodia -1 0%Myanmar -1 0%Macao 0 0%Laos 0 0%Total -9897 100%

Merchandise Balance (surplus). Year 2017Vietnam 1650 31%India 1257 24%Indonesia 728 14%Bangladesh 566 11%Malaysia 550 10%Hong Kong 252 5%Pakistan 125 2%Philipines 119 2%Brunei 7 0%Nepal 4 0%Mongolia 2 0%Maldives 0 0%Bhutan 0 0%Total 5261 100%

Table 3. Merchandise Balance of Argentina by Asian Countries

Source: Own elaboration based on Secretariat of Commerce Database of Argentina.

and strengthen, which, as indicated therein, and suggested below, is much more complex and richer than the Positive Theory of the International Economy suggests.

First, Argentina and India are “discovering” each other as potential economic partners. This clearly diff erentiates this from the traditional economic relations that each country has had, such as, in the case of Argentina, its links with Europe, the United States, and Latin American countries, or the more recent and growing relations with China and ASEAN countries.

This mutual discovery, today still very limited in the light of the opportunities detected, requires an increase of mutual knowledge for its concrete growth, not only in the strictly material aspect but culturally and socially as well, embracing obvious diff erences in productive, commercial and investment culture.

The strengthening of the exchange of goods, services and direct foreign investment as an economic and commercial stimulus require recognizing in the other a series of values, among which is trust, which, when shared, facilitates the exchange and sharing of the fruits of eff orts and projects. This does not arise from a legal instrument, such as a written contract, but from a construction, sometimes slow and sometimes fast -in an emergency or urgency- that goes beyond the merely contractual. A regular contract in a long-term relationship between very diverse cultures tends to be the coronation of a dense, multidimensional human and social bond and, on many occasions, unexpected.

In the Argentine case, it can be noted that the link that has been maintained for centuries with European countries is associated to a large extent with the relational density among the inhabitants of the countries. Colonized by Spaniards, it then received millions of immigrants for decades from many European countries such as Italy, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Russia, Ireland, or other regions, such as Lebanon, Syria, Japan, a small contingent from India, etc. This allowed for the building of shared values and customs over more than two centuries, as well as a dense economic, commercial, cultural, educational and research underlying framework in Argentina.

Something similar has been happening in recent decades with the attraction of that country as a place of study, work and permanent residence for thousands of citizens of South American countries, mainly young people, to which is added the novel presence of population of Chinese origin and from the African continent, which signifi cantly expands the social and cultural web of the country.

The growth of diversity has allowed for new horizons in human relationships, and logically in the economy as one of its dimensions, which had not been suffi ciently explored before, had not been recognized, or simply did not exist. It can be conjectured that, while non-existence was the consequence of the lack of a real and deep human bond that reached the economic and commercial link, the non-recognition of such

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link could have been associated with a delay in the intellectual perception of the social majority of a progressively growing phenomenon that, albeit not disruptive, had not succeeded in attracting enough attention to be recognized as such.

It is worth mentioning that, for example, untimely migratory fl ows derived from political crises of magnitude, capture this attention immediately. On the contrary, continuous migratory fl ows, of high interpretative and symbolic density, but which gently drain across the borders, are only perceived by the recipient society after a considerable time has elapsed, and when its presence is evident to any inhabitant of the country or region.

Secondly, the following should be addressed. That is the progressive shift of an alternative economy to a capitalist economy or to the concept of development are issues that should not be neglected when thinking about a deeper link between India and Argentina.

India, as a leading country in initiatives and projects associated with what can be called, with the licenses of the case, “social economy”3, off ers the possibility for Argentina to explore, from the perspective of that country - with all that this implies in terms of cultural and socio-economic diff erences - new possibilities of complementation and cooperation that arise from the pattern of production and traditional exchange of goods and services produced by a mixed economy (market plus State).

Another aspect that certainly does not exhaust the possible dimensions that may determine a future of richer economic linkage between both countries, is that of a conception of development, and therefore of the link between countries. An approach that could be more associated with concepts such as “good living” or “the happiness of man”, than the mere provision of more quantity and quality of material goods4.

This reopening towards the spiritual dimension of man in Western countries entails more than the emotional dimension on a biological basis, like that explored in Experimental Psychology and in Neurosciences, but it brings us back to the multidimensionality of the human rational soul as it is known in the West after Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas.

The enrichment of economic analysis by placing man as the axis and not the profi t-maximizing rational agent subject to restrictions (Thaler, 1980), implies a remarkable change in how society and exchange are thought of, including the exchange of goods and services between countries.

India and Argentina, two countries with highly diverse cultural and religious traditions that permeate and determine men (economic agents, in the Positive Economic Theory) require exploring and deepening alterity from the perspective of the other to favor a dense economic integration. In addition, it will lead to an expansion in items and activities that today are not recognised by the other as a “good” that enriches, nor that reaching that status can expand the base of the exchange (Rodriguez de la Vega, 2016).

While this approach is especially relevant to cultural and

educational services, it should not only be circumscribed to them. This also infl uences the formation of an ecosystem that is suffi ciently diff erent, because it is so much more complex and multidimensional, that it changes what defines the ecosystem itself, and for which material goods and relatively novel services is required in each country.

For example, the beginning or extension of the practice of a religion diff erent from that of the majority of the local population, or of a practice of religious origin but that can be found or transmitted in a secularized form, presupposes the need for training, creation of appropriate environment or supply of necessary objects among others, that can be provided by the other country or result in direct investments and migrations, among other things. The same applies to cookery or traditional artistic and scientifi c expressions.

In this way, as emerges in Massot (2017), closer and deeper socio-cultural links can be, not only relevant in themselves, but also effi cient ways to promote and diversify the pattern of production, direct investment, and exchange of goods and services, including tourism and education, between both countries.

ConclusionStrengthen the economic exchange between Argentina

and India could imply more variables than traditional ones.From some perspectives, more than money and good

contracts are required to build a deep long term relation. Different traditions, culture, religions, history, regional environment, and social and political challenges suggest that it is possible to increase bilateral trade and investment working together in exploring alternative ways to an ambitious free trade agreement in the short run.

Such alternative and productive ways include non-tariff barriers (sanitary and phytosanitary barriers, customs, technical barriers to trade, etc.), joint direct investments in tourism, manufacturing, and agriculture; research programs in R+D+I; student and scientist exchange programs; cultural events; joint projects in creative industries, among others.

Finally, larger diplomatic missions in both countries should be necessary to support such multiple road bilateral strategy.1 The question of the import and export of energy and fuels

varied throughout history and, although mostly defi cient, has had periods of positive energy balance. This is also observed in mining and fi shing.

2 For example hospital and home equipment.3 For an introduction to the debate on this and other related

concepts, see Elgue (2014).4 As an example, see the idea enunciated by Unceta (2015).

Other examples are SIDBI (2008), Shastri (2009), Das (2014), etc.

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* The auhor is researcher at Argentine Council for the International Relations (CARI) and the University of Salvador, Argentina (USAL)

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MICROFINANCE IN THE BILATERAL RELATIONS BETWEEN INDIA AND ARGENTINA

Since Independence from the British in 1947, successive governments in India have implemented public policies on rural development to eradicate the extended poverty

and promote self-employment. It must be noted that one of the problems aff ecting the rural sector in the country is the land fragmentation, resulting in the existence of small and marginal farmers. Thereby, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and regional rural banks were created to fi nance and develop microfi nances programmes. As an example of national schemes, a linkage programme for Self Help Groups and fi nancial institutions (Self – Help Group Bank Linkage Programme or SHG-BLP) and the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) – implemented since 2011 and kept through the government changes in 2014- must be highlighted.

As for Argentina, microfi nance sector is in a beginning step. Nonetheless, the topic is relevant to the bilateral agenda and some recent facts reveal its growing importance. A demonstration of this conclusion, this article refers to the author’s experience as an Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) trainee, a programme conducted by the Ministry of External Aff airs of India and the visit to Argentina of Chetna Gala Sinha, a well-known social activist, who works with rural women in India on their capacities building.

Microfi nance in rural IndiaUntil the nineties, a large number of rural Indians were

excluded from the banking system. Poor people from rural areas in India found themselves in a vicious circle: they produced in a subsistence level, being hard to save money and no investments in productive resources were possible. As a result, the rural population chose the informal credit sources,

as they were more fl exible and more accessible than formal ones. In return, they accepted to pay an exorbitant interest rate, without bearing in mind the consequences of this decision and, during crisis times, farmers fell into poverty (Murthy et al., 2017; NABARD, 2017; Sharma, 2017).

Even though the Government of India and Reserve Bank of India endeavour to create and support fi nancial services to reach marginalized population, the informal sector still operated this way. In fact, central governments of India, in the last decades, implemented initiatives to achieve a total fi nancial inclusion – as the banks nationalizations in 1969 and 1980, the creation of regional rural banks in 1975 and bank linkage programmes-, but their results did not reach the poor (Murthy et al., 2017; NABARD, 2017; Srikanth, 2017a).

In this context, microfi nances schemes saw the light. Microfi nance refers to the fi nancial services provision to low income persons or solidarity groups, including consumers and self-employers, which traditionally could not access the banking system. Microfi nance institutions (commercial banks, regional rural banks, cooperative banks, cooperatives and non-banking fi nancial institutions) play a major role in fi nancial services. They provide loans to individuals or Self – Help Groups (SHG) or Joint Liability Groups (JLG) members. The fi rst ones are groups between ten and twenty persons, generally, women sharing a similar background, which collect their savings for internal lending and its rate repayment is decided internally. After that, the capital is considered a collateral to access to a credit. The latter are groups formed by fi ve or ten members – small and marginal farmers- with the strict purpose of endorsing a bank loan both individually and collectively through mutual guarantee (Ambrish, 2014; Malleswari y Reddy, 2017; NABARD, 2017; Gurumurthy,

By Ab. Sabrina Victoria Olivera*

17

2017; Sharma, 2017). Groups are extremely important for poverty reduction, social transformation and empowerment. Namely, microfi nance allows farmers in poverty to deal with their conditions and develop a sustainable livelihood (Patil y Kokate, 2017).

In the last years, microfi nance sector in India led an exponential growth. Microfi nance schemes are divided into two categories: for one hand, the SHG-BLP and, in the other, the microfi nance institutions (Abraham y Kalamkar, 2016; Patil y Kokate, 2017; NABARD, 2017). The fi rst one is a programme conducted by the government and supervised by NABARD, whose main objective is to provide funding resources, led to poverty reduction (Abraham y Kalamkar, 2016). Commercial banks, thanks to its network throughout the country, assumed the SHG-BLP leadership (NABARD, 2017). Meanwhile, microfinance institutions dedicated almost exclusively to this activity, unlike what happened with commercial banks- provide loans to JLG (Ambrish, 2014). It must be noted that while rural credit programmes during the 1950-1980 period showed repayment rates lower than 50 percent, currently they are above 95 percent, sometimes reaching the 100 percent (Augsburg y Fouillet, 2013). These circumstances evidence the success of the above mentioned programme and its dynamics.

Microfi nance in the bilateral relations between India and Argentina

The Government of India, through its Ministry of External Aff airs, off ers to more than 160 countries in the world, its ITEC scholarships programme, that includes in some cases the microfi nances theme; however, they are underutilized by Latin-American countries (BID, 2017). In 2017, the author decided to apply to a four-week course off ered by the programme, titled “Rural credit for poverty reduction”, in Hyderabad (Telangana state). The cause of this choice was the coincidence between the contents of her thesis in Master of International Relations and the course mentioned. The programme was conducted during the month of March, in the prestigious National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR).

During the fi rst three weeks, the lectures were conducted in the campus, where the following issues were discussed by twenty delegates from fi fteen diff erent countries: structure of rural credit and banking system in India; fi nancial inclusion for rural development; banking services in India; small and medium enterprises in poverty reduction; geoinformatics; United Nations Sustainable Development Goals; SHGs; integrated agriculture and sustainable livelihood; small and marginal farmers; national disasters and vulnerable groups; climate resilience and agroforest; technology and rural development; social entrepreneurship for rural development; producers organizations; digital literacy; value chains for rural development; self-employment opportunities; social

audit and accountability; gender issues; rural credit; crop insurance; food processing and participative planning for poverty reduction. Most of the professors were PhD. holders in their diverse disciplines and had working experience in the issues discussed. It is relevant to say that sessions were approached from a neutral and objective point of view.

SHG federation in charge of running fi shing activities in Vishakhapatnam area (March 2018)

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After those sessions, the course participants headed to Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, to pursue a five-day fi eld visit. This involved visits to tribal communities and interactions with women from diff erent SHGs, personnel at bank branches, ONG’s volunteers and government agencies offi cers. The main objective of this fi eld visit was to verify the contents discussed during the sessions. In this experience, participants were allowed to observe and note the eff orts displayed by India to eradicate poverty and, besides, empower rural women through microfi nance schemes.

Secondly, it is worth mentioning the EKHOS initiative (Argentina), whose aim is to promote links. They foment exchanges in diverse areas: scholar knowledge, experiences in social business, solutions for Latin America countries, identifi cations of impact investment opportunities, cultural aspects, advice and project incubation and public policies design inside those environments.

To achieve this goal, EKHOS plans immersion trips to India to enhance a joint work and interpersonal relations. The association organizes training and academic sessions, networking with different actors, international forums attendance and field visits. In fact, in November 2018, EKHOS will be making the second immersion trip to India. Likewise, as a very interesting activity to mention, EKHOS contributed to the possibility of four women from the Province of Jujuy, Argentina, participating in a six-month training at Barefoot College in India on renewable energy. The knowledge acquired in that experience will be displayed by those women in their communities in the Puna region (north Argentina), enhancing their abilities and empowerment.

Finally, the issue of microfi nance in India is contributing to generating activities co-organized by diff erent social agents interested in the subject, within the framework of the bilateral relationship between both countries. That is the case of a recent activity held in Buenos Aires, in which Financial Inclusion Partners (FIP), Addkeen, EKHOS, the Working Group on India and South Asia, Asian Aff airs Committee, of

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the Argentinian Council of International Relations (CARI) and Equilibrium Global organized a Seminar titled “Microfi nance in India: experiences for Latin America”, on 4th October, 2018. In that event, Claudio González Vega -President of BBVA Microfi nance Foundation Patronage- and the Indian activist Chetna Gala Sinha delivered conferences. While the fi rst one approached a general overview of microfi nance, Mg. Gala Sinha presented “Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank Ltd.” and its work with rural women in Maharashtra. Mann Deshi, a bank run only by women, provides loans, savings, pensions and insurance schemes to more than 25.000 entrepreneurs, each year. Besides, Mann Deshi work is complemented by a foundation and a school of business for women. This fi rst joint activity of the diff erent institutions mentioned had an audience that fi lled the room where it was made and it is expected to be able to replicate the approaches of the subject on other occasions.

Conclusion This document highlighted the relevance of microfi nance

activities and schemes in developing countries, as a tool for social and economic empowerment for disadvantaged groups. Thus, it is not possible to achieve poverty reduction if there are no basic mechanisms available that enhance progress and economic growth. In this sense, the results obtained by the SHG-BLP are undeniable, jointly considered with the impulse provided by the NRLM and the benefi ts that SHGs bring.

The experience that emerged in India is practicable in Argentina, because the microfi nance sector is underdeveloped, in comparison to other countries in the region. From the exchange of actors and joint training experiences, valuable contributions could emerge for our country. For this reason, bilateral relations between Argentina and India should not be reduced to commercial issues. This article shows that the synergy in aspects with social impact in groups that have historically been postponed for structural reasons is absolutely relevant.

References:Abraham, D. T., & Kalamkar, S. S. (2016). Microfi nance

Institutions, Responsibility, and Strategic Direction. Strategic Change, 25(5), 603-612.

Ambrish (2014). Microfi nance In India: Its Issues And Challenges. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Approach and Studies, 01 (5), 147-159.

Augsburg, B., & Fouillet, C. (2013). Profi t empowerment: The microfi nance institution’s mission drift. Studies of impact and performance: the credibility of microcredit, 199.

EKHOS website: https://www.ekhos.org/Gurumurthy, N., Dilli, S., Reddy, K. J. (2017). Empowering

women through Microfi nance. In Reddy, B.R. (2017). Women empowerment through microfi nance. Discovering Publishing House PVT. LTD. Delhi.

International Development Bank (BID) (2017, December). LATINDIA: El futuro de la cooperación de India y América Latina. Revista Integración & Comercio, 21 (43). Available at: https://publications.iadb.org/handle/11319/8726?locale-attribute=es&#sthash.LMqmya8r.dpuf (last access: 04/09/2018).

Malleswari, B. & Reddy, B.B. (2017). Microfi nance. Performance of credit delivery models in India. In Reddy, B.R. (2017). Women empowerment through microfi nance. Discovering Publishing House PVT. LTD. Delhi.

Murthy, D.S., Narasaiah, P.V. y Prasad, H. (2017). Role of SHGs in Women Empowerment. In Reddy, B.R. (2017). Women empowerment through microfi nance. Discovering Publishing House PVT. LTD. Delhi.

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) (2017). Status of Microfi nance in India 2016-17. Micro Credit Innovations Department. Disponible en: ht tps: / /www.nabard.org/auth/wri tereaddata/tender/1307174808Status%20of%20Microfi nance%20in%20India%202016-17.pdf. Last access: 04/12/2018.

National Rural Livelihoods Mission website: http://nrlm.gov.in and http://aajeevika.gov.in/

Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (2017). “India Country Briefi ng”, Multidimensional Poverty Index Data Bank. OPHI, University of Oxford. Available at: www.ophi.org.uk/multidimensional-poverty-index/mpi-country-briefi ngs/

Patil, S., & Kokate, K. (2017). Identifying factors governing attitude of rural women towards Self-Help Groups using principal component analysis. Journal of Rural Studies, 55, 157-167.

Sharma, R. S. (2017). Analysis of SHGs and linkage banks in Rajasthan. En Reddy, B.R. (2017). Women empowerment through microfi nance. Discovering Publishing House PVT. LTD. Delhi.

Srikanth, M. (2017a). An Evaluation of Financial Inclusion in India: Some Policy Insights. The Microfi nance Review, IX (2), 1-14.

Srikanth, M. (2017b). Inclusive growth through alternative sustainable livelihoods. PRAGATI NIRD&PR, Octubre 2017.

* The author is Specialist in Economy and Business with Pacifi c Asia and India (National University of Tres de Febrero). Master (c) in International Relations (El Salvador University. Lawyer specialized in International Law (University of Buenos Aires). Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme trainee in 2018. Member of the Working Group on India and South Asia and Youngsters Group of the Argentinian Council of International Relations (CARI). Member of the Group of Studies on India and Southeast Asia at the National University of Rosario. Legal Advisor of the National Executive Chief Offi ce at the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA). E-mail: stereo_26@hotmail.com).

19

THE IMMIGRATION FROM INDIA TO ARGENTINABy Dr. Lía Rodriguez de la Vega

IntroductionIn the current globalized context, 258 million people

currently live outside their country of origin (UN, 2017) while it can be said that the phenomenon of the mobility of people impacts in diff erent ways in the domestic and international sphere.

The emigrated collectives, under the denomination of diaspora, thus form part of the non-state actors, which are considered as “those units of the international system (entity, group, individual) that enjoy the ability to mobilize resources that allow them to achieve their objectives, that have the capacity to exert infl uence on other actors of the system and that enjoy a certain autonomy “(Barbé, 2008, p.153), which develop diverse infl uences at a local and global level.

The dynamics of such human groups, based in diff erent countries of the world, implies the consideration of culture (understood as the symbolic-expressive dimension of social practices) (Geertz 1973/2003) and identity (which implies the incorporation of culture on the part of the subjects, having a non-essential character but intersubjective and relational, allowing delimit what they consider “own” of what is not, translating not only diff erence but also inequalities) (Giménez, 2007).

Thus, while Vertovec considers that the term diaspora is used to refer to any de-territorialized or transnational population (Vertovec and Cohen, 1999), referring to the “Indian diaspora”, the Indian government understands it as “a generic term that describes people emigrated from territories that are currently within the boundaries of the Republic of India. It also refers to his descendants” and points out that these people “living in distant lands” “retained their emotional, cultural and spiritual ties with their country of

origin” (High Level Committee of the Indian Diaspora, n.d., paragraphs 1 and 2).

In this context, the Indian presence in Argentina can be dated from the 19th century, which are the fi rst signs and documents that attest to this. From that time until now, this small community (2400 persons, according to what has been indicated by the Embassy of India in Argentina) has been integrating themselves into the residence society, with the presence of a continuous fl ow towards the country.

This text aims to address the community of Indian residents and their descendants in the Argentine Republic, noting their general characteristics, their insertion, their contributions and challenges.

The Indian Diaspora and the migration to ArgentinaLeclerc (2004) points out that the idea of a “diaspora” to

refer to the emigrants from India already appears in an article by Bharati (1976), but was popularized in the decade of the ‘90s, associated with the holding of international conferences on the theme, the creation of a Center for the Study of this Diaspora, at the University of Hyderabad, in 1996, and the creation, by the Indian government, of the High Level Committee on the Indian Diaspora (2000), which carried out a survey of expatriate communities.

It should be noted that the Indian Diaspora is considered one of the largest in the world, in terms of its volume, estimated by the Indian Ministry of Foreign Aff airs / MEA (2017) in 31.2 million Indians (and their descendants), residing outside India.

Argentina, a country that has traditionally been a recipient of immigration, received several immigrant contingents, most

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of which arrived between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, most of them are Spanish and Italians, although people of another origin also arrived, such as from India.

Indian immigration registers its fi rst antecedent in the National Census of 1895, in which the presence of 6 Indo-English is mentioned and it seems to be initially linked to work in sugar plantations and later in the railroad, although there are testimonies that refer to the fi rst arrival of Sikhs to Argentina, to work in English sugar plantations in Jujuy, occurred in 1879 (interview with Baldev Singh, cited in Singh Kahlon, 2012) .

The statistics of entries, departure and balances of foreigners by nationalities, provided by the National Directorate of Migration, show different denominations to designate immigrants of this origin (non-European nationalities): among them, “several”, “oriental”, etc. and in 1909 the denomination “Hindus” appears.

For the rest, there is a text prepared by the engineer Dante Singh, son of one of the emigrants who settled in Salta province, which collects testimonies of his own father and other ancient migrants who live there (Sikhs) and who point out their version of the diff erent waves of migration that they identify and the dynamics of them: 1) East Current (1910-1920), 2) West Current (1920-1930), 3) North Current (1920-1930) and 4) Current new (1930 onwards).

On the first flow they pointed out that, in the context of the prelude to the First World War, some European travel agencies obtained permits to travel to America and this, coupled with the dissemination of the advantages of working in North America, helped to develop a migratory fl ow in that direction, in some cases selling Indians passages to the United States or Canada and then disembarking them in other countries (Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago and other areas of the Caribbean). Thus 50 people, all men and most Sikhs, some of them speaking English, arrived at the port of Buenos Aires and end working at “La Esperanza” sugar plantation, in Jujuy and as railroad crews (see photo 1).

Regarding the second fl ow mentioned in that text, it is maintained that this contingent departed from Shanghai to the United States and when it was not allowed to descend there, it went towards Central and South America. Some of those traveling to diff erent Latin American countries and the rest

continued to travel to the port of Valparaiso, Chile, where some stayed while others left to La Paz, Bolivia, where they remained. 8 members of this group came to Argentina by rail from La Paz to Villazón and went

to San Pedro de Jujuy, knowing that some contemporaries worked in the Leach brothers’ sugar plantation (“La Esperanza”). There, after obtaining a residence permit, they moved to Tartagal, Salta, where another 20 Indians of the fi rst fl ow worked on the railroad, and there they remained. Today some of their descendants live in that place.

About the third fl ow, it is noted that towards the same time of the mentioned fl ow, another group entered the country by land from neighboring countries. Originally, 300 people had departed from India to the port of Marseille, France, disembarking some there, others in Cuba and the rest of the group in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They contacted some

compatriots living in San Pablo to work on the Brazilian railroad. The majority remained there while the others moved to Buenos Aires. From there, some went to Jujuy, Salta, others stayed in Rosario, Santa Fe and, from there, they were assigned as railroad crews to diff erent parts of the country (Arrecifes, Bahía Blanca, General Pico, province of Buenos Aires; Villa Mercedes, Tucumán, etc.).

Finally, on the indicated fl ow from 1930 on, they indicated that it developed from the Second World War and the Indian independence with immigrants that arrive to Argentina having relatives and friends already living there, which implies concrete help when arriving and staying (work and others). This allows the migration of families.

On the other hand, to the existence of the small community of Indian emigres,

there must be also added the presence of relevant Indian fi gures, who impregnated the local imagination about India, such as that of the Maharaja of Kapurthala, who visited Buenos Aires in 1925, showing admiration for the liberality of immigration laws and noting that Indians seeking work abroad should take Argentina into account (Sadous, 2006) (see photo 2). Another notable visit was that of Rabindranath Tagore, Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, who visited Argentina in 1924, where he had to rest during a trip to Peru and met the writer Victoria Ocampo, with whom he would develop a well-known friendship, so much known that would end up generating a fi lm about them (“Thinking of Him”, by Pablo César, released this year in India and Argentina).

Indian workers at La Esperanza sugar plantation, Jujuy province, Argentina(Source: Sierra e Iglesias, 1998)

The Maharaja of Kapurthala(Source: Sadous, 2006)

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Characteristics of the populationImmigrants from India and their descendants can now be

found in various places in our country, namely, Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, the provinces of Buenos Aires, Córdoba, El Chaco, Entre Ríos, Formosa, Jujuy, La Pampa, Mendoza, Misiones, Neuquén, Río Negro, Salta, San Luis, , Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán, etc. Currently, the Embassy of India in Argentina estimates its number to 2,400 people (Embassy of India in Argentina, n.d.).

Based on the first survey carried out by the author (presented in 2006) and the comparison of the two most numerous groups found, residing in Salta and Buenos Aires, it emerges, with respect to the ages of the emigrants, that in the fi rst generation, the group of 30-49 years old constitutes 58.3 percent of it while in the second generation, the group of 50-69 years, constitutes 70.4 percent of it and the group of 70 years and more, 8 percent (being the majority sons and daughters of the fi rst immigrants arrived in the country).

greater fragmentation in beliefs (Sikh, Evangelist, Jehovah’s Witness, Basilio Scientifi c School), with Catholicism being the majority.

As for languages, Punjabi and Hindi are the majority in the community among fi rst generation people, although there are also others, such as Telugu, Dogri, etc. The Spanish language, quickly learned by these immigrants, is used primarily in the fi eld of work, although it should be noted that almost 49 percent say they have incorporated it into the family.

In some of the second generation people, the greatest loss observed is that of writing, that is, some descendants can speak the language of origin but do not write it, while the descendants of an Indian father and an Argentine mother or another, fundamentally the sons and daughters of the fi rst Indian immigrants in the country, do not speak any of these languages.

With regard to associations, various informal groups have been developed in the community over time, some more lasting than others and currently, there is an Indian -Argentina Association, which seeks to gather all immigrants and their descendants, carrying out diff erent activities for the diff usion of the Indian culture. It is presided by a descendant from Tucumán province living in Buenos Aires, Nora Singh (Rodríguez de la Vega, 2006).

Contributions and Challenges

L i k e a n y multicultural society, Argentina registers the contributions of these migrants in terms of coexistence in diversity and in this sense, the actions of different emigrants complement the so-called soft power of India, projecting the culture of that country.

In the religious sphere, although there are different movements of Indian origin that came to Argentina by the hand of Argentinians, the presence of Indian emigrants led to the construction of the fi rst Sikh temple in the country, in Rosario de la Frontera, Salta (see photo 3,4).

For the rest, its cuisine has diff erent restaurants that project its rich diversity in that area and there is a dietetics that provides usual elements of use in their consumption (belonging to the Verma family, in the City of Buenos Aires).

While some emigrants spread languages of India, such as Hindi, through their classes (such as Khileshwar Verma, Premlata Verma - who has published a book on Indian literature, in Spanish, etc.), others spread Ayurveda and Yoga knowledge (as in the case of Sumati Verma, for example).

Others are dedicated to the dissemination of elements such as dance, as for example Manisha Chauhan and her group of

Sikh Temple in Rosario de la Frontera, Salta, Argentina

Punjabi and Hindi are the majority in the community among fi rst generation people, although there are also others, such as Telugu, Dogri, etc. The Spanish language, quickly learned by these immigrants, is used primarily in the fi eld of work.

The great majority of both generations is married, in the case of the fi rst generation with people of Indian origin for the most part and in the second, with people of Argentine origin (Rodríguez de la Vega, 2006).

Regarding the reasons for migrating and the social networks involved in it, most of the respondents claim to have emigrated from India to improve their economic situation. 57.10 percent of them had emigrants among their closest relatives, while 73.80 percent of the respondents stated that they had relatives, friends or acquaintances in Argentina when they arrived in the country (Rodríguez de la Vega, 2006).

For the rest, with regard to their social support networks, it can be seen that both in the fi rst and the second generation, the process of incorporation into the local society seems quite advanced, with the average of support ties with Argentinians be-ing rather high (although this is more evident in Buenos Aires).

As for the religious beliefs present, in the fi rst generation, they are Sikhism (majority), Hinduism, and Catholicism (only 3.6%). In the second generation, it can be seen a

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“Bollywood” style dancers, Harjit (Yita) Singh, with a fusion of traditional and modern dances; Nora Singh, who recreates Punjab dances with Sikhs young people, among others (see photos 5,6). Others spread the Indian music, like Sanjay Bhadoriya who plays and teaches tabla.

Others, like Souptik Chakraborty, project Indian cultural dynamics in Argentina, through a documentary called “Argentina loves India”, which he wrote, directed and co-produced (with Juan Pablo Castino) (see photo 7). This is added to the diff erent elements of continuity between both generations within the community and its projection to the outside of it.

Thus, this Indian identity in Argentina, is in a dynamic that interacts between patterns of action that promote a sense of belonging to the Indian diaspora as such, as a permanent process that penetrates the social life of the emigrants and the particular dynamics of those who are part of this community, in the specifi c Argentine context, spreading their culture of origin and incorporating local elements, in any case acting their potential as cultural agents, contributing to greater understanding between both countries, while maintaining contacts with diff erent areas of the planet where relatives and friends reside, as part of that extensive network of fl ows that constitutes the Indian diaspora, which permeates the country of origin and those of residence.

ReferencesBarbé, E. (2008). Relaciones internacionales. Madrid: Tecnos.Bhat, Ch., (1988). India and the Indian Diaspora. A Policy

Issues. Ocassional Paper 4. Department of Sociology, University of Hyderabag, Retrieved from http://www.indiandiaspora.nis.in/

Croce, I. (2018). Un puente que une India y la Argentina. Espectáculos, La Prensa (28 de mayo).

Geertz, C. (1973/2003). La interpretación de las culturas. Barcelona: Editorial Gedisa.

Giménez, G. (2007). Cultura política e Identidad. In Giménez, G. Estudios sobre la cultura y las identidades sociales (pp. 195-214). México: Conaculta-Iteso.

High Level Committee on Indian Diaspora (n.d.). The Indian Diaspora. Retrieved from http://indiandiaspora.nic.in/contents.htm

Leclerc, E. (2004). L’invention d’une diaspora indienne: enjeux politiques et sociaux. In Espaces et sociétés aujourd’hui (la géographie sociale dans l’espace et dans l’action). Rennes, Université de Rennes. Retrieved from http://eso.cnrs.fr/IMG/pdf/le.pdf

Nye, J. S. (2008). Public Diplomacy and Soft Power. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 616 (1), 94-109.

Portal Informativo de Salta (n.d.). La comunidad hindú en Salta-Rosario de la Frontera. Retrieved from http://www.portaldesalta.gov.ar/sociedadindu.html

Rodríguez de la Vega, L. (2006). Las diásporas en las relaciones internacionales. La inmigración india en Argentina; primera y segunda generación. Tesis de Doctorado. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad del Salvador, Buenos Aires.

Sadous, E. (2006). El Maharajá de Kapurthala en Buenos Aires. Historias de la Ciudad. Una revista de Buenos Aires, Vll, 39, 16-20.

Sierra e Iglesias, J. P. (1998). Un tiempo que se fue. Vida y obra de los hermanos Leach. San Pedro de Jujuy: UNJU-Municipalidad de San Pedro de Jujuy.

Singh Kahlon, S. (2012). Sikhs in Latin America. Travels among the Sikh Diaspora. Delhi: Manohar.

Ministry of External Affairs/MEA (2017). Population of Overseas Indians (Compiled in December, 2017). Retrieved from http://mea.gov.in/images/attach/NRIs-and-PIOs_1.pdf

UN (2017). International Migration Report 2017. Highlights. New York: United Nations. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/publications/migrationreport/docs/MigrationReport2017_Highlights.pdf

Vertovec, S. y Cohen, R. (1999). Migration, Diasporas and Transnationalism. Massachusetts: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.

Dancer Manisha Chauchan

Indian identity in Argentina, is in a dynamic that interacts between patterns of action that promote a sense of belonging to the Indian diaspora as such, as a permanent process that penetrates the social life of the emigrants and the particular dynamics of those who are part of this community.

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* The author is researcher and professor at Lomas de Zamora National University; Palermo University; Buddhist Studies Institute Foundation; Working Group on India and South Asia, Asian Aff airs Committee, Argentina Council for International Relations; Latin American Association for Asian and African Studies

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INDIA-ARGENTINA PAST AND PRESENT OF AN ENDURING PASSION

By Gustavo Canzobre*

We are close to the celebration of the 70 years of Diplomatic Relations between India in Argentina. Along this time, and even before, India and

Argentina have had an enduring passion born a long time before.

This is an attempt to recall the early origins of Argentina´s interest in India, and how it has grown over decades and centuries up to nowadays.

A 96-day Voyage to KolkataThe fi rst offi cial reference to an Argentine getting to India

shows how Argentina´s approach to India, even because of random circumstances, dates from long ago. It was 1848. At the Spence Hotel lobby in Kolkata, a young Argentine traveler appeared, a contrasting presence among the distinguished English guests who used to stay there. After 96 days on board a ship, this 17-year old boy would be the fi rst known Argentine to travel to India. This youngster was Lucio V. Mansilla, an outstanding character of Argentine culture, son of a military hero and cousin of Juan Manuel de Rosas. Mansilla would later become an important military man himself, a journalist and writer. He was sent to India just by chance: his family had discovered that, since he’s underaged girlfriend belong to the high society Lucio did, he was about to secretly escape from the country with her in order to get married. And besides, his father noticed he was getting too

close to liberal ideas, as he had found Lucio reading books by Rousseau, thus clearly confronting the nationalist ideology held by Rosas, his powerful uncle. Therefore, his parents decided to send him to India as a commercial representative of the family business so that his mind could get rid of such weird behaviour.

Sailing along the South African coast and the Amsterdam Islands, his ship got to Kolkata after 96 days. Thanks to his literary abilities, which would later make him an important writer in his generation, Mansilla wrote the first travel chronicles on India in Argentine literature. They are part of his travel diary written between 1850 and 1851. He was, properly speaking, a dandy and he lived like that in India: he spent all his family business funds on having the very best of lives. Neither interesting records nor literary skills can be found in his writings, though. Mansilla usually felt bored of his life in India: “The city of Kolkata, undoubtedly one of the most beautiful in the world, must be considered under two aspects; fi rst, the houses of the Europeans, which are magnifi cent, and second, the natives, who are the dirtiest and most disgusting imaginable”.

The way the commonly named 1837 Generation approached the East in general, India included, is still not present in Mansilla’s writings. This group, headed by the great politician and educator Domingo F. Sarmiento, shared a European view who associated Europe with the so-called

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“civilization” in opposition to the barbarism attributed to the natives living outside the central areas of Buenos Aires. They would use their incipient knowledge of Eastern countries and their social structure as a symbol of the natives’ culture, characterized as a barbarian, which would later be destroyed by the Argentine army. This would defi nitely result in the birth of Orientalism in Argentina, in some way close to that in Europe. Argentina’s history certainly paints the picture of a culture that has never remained indiff erent to what happens in the rest of the world.

As Argentine Dr. Axel Gasquet states in his book Oriente al Sur, the infl uence the East will have on the Argentine elite from the very birth of the nation cannot be ignored: “Of the initial conceptual and ideological use of European Orientalism, inherited from the Enlightenment in the generation of 1837, which has served to establish the aesthetic of the Pampas as a basic topic of Argentine literature and also to defi ne the contours of native barbarism through Eastern barbarian foundations, we see that there is a political, even social, concern for the East among the members of the Generation of ‘80”.

India and Argentina in the 20th Century1910, the Centenary of Argentina, witnesses the birth

of the new century and of cultural desire. Both attest to the increasing interest in India, in particular, that Argentina starts developing. The crisis unleashed after the First World War, which challenges the thus-far unquestionable values of Western culture, awakens an existential craving for new horizons by the Argentine intelligentsia.

At the same time, in addition, the 1895 census records that there are 6 Indians in Argentina that have come to work for British railway companies. But Dr. Lía Rodríguez de la Vega, who has studied the Indian diaspora in our country, states there are also additional sources that affi rm that the fi rst Sikhs came to Argentina in 1879 to work in sugar cane mills in Jujuy Province in the north-west of the country.

Many interesting facts show Argentina´s approach towards India in the newly born century:

1. The Theosophical Society, a global Philo-Hindu movement that quickly attracted and captured much of the Argentine intelligentsia, opens its Argentine branch in Buenos Aires in 1893. The most important writers at that time, from Leopoldo Lugones, Alfredo Palacios, Joaquín V. González, José Ingenieros among others, show increasing interest in India.

2. In 1896 Emilio Roqué publishes the fi rst Spanish translation of the Bhagavad Gita in Argentina.

3. In 1907 the young Danish Nicolas Kier buys an old theosophical bookstore in Buenos Aires, which becomes a meeting point for the elite keen on the East. He would later found the “Editorial Kier” publishing house, which will

be one of the main promoters of Orientalist literature in Argentina throughout the 20th century.

1920, the Turning Point: the Tagore-Ocampo EncounterThe second decade will show a turning point in the India-

Argentina relationship. The following facts should be taken into account:

1. A circle of young intellectuals who will look for humanistic alternatives to the increasing progress of positivism is formed at the University of La Plata by Joaquín V. González, the well-known Argentine politician, Carlos Muzzio Sáenz Peña, who will be the fi rst to introduce Tagore to important Argentine audiences through the editions of Poems in 1915 and Tagore´s translation of Kabir’s poems Fruit Gathering in 1917, and his celebrated edition of The Gardener in the Nobel collection in 1924, just one year after Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize in Europe.

2. In November 1924 Tagore arrives in Buenos Aires, meets Victoria Ocampo and stays in the country for three months.

3. Kier has already published Vedantic texts: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna in 1909, as translated from the English version by Swami Abhedananda of the Swami Ramakrishna Order of India, and by 1922 the translations of Karma Yoga,

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Jnana Yoga, and Raja Yoga written by Swami Vivekananda are available in bookshops.

4. In the early 20s groups gathering around the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna form the fi rst Vedanta Society of South America in Buenos Aires.

5. In May 1932 first Ramakrishna Ashram in South America will be founded by Swami Vijoyananda, till his death in 1973, is a restless monk who lectures all over South American countries, appearing on the radio every week and in the main cultural centres. Adelina del Carril will be the fi rst president of the Ashram. She was married to Ricardo Guiraldes, one of the greatest writers of the beginning of the century. She adopted an Indian child, and brought him to live in Argentina, Mr. Ramachandra Gowda, who would then devote his whole life to promote his adoptive fathers work and let Argentine people know better his Motherland.

Tagore´s infl uence on Victoria Ocampo will help India to get a higher place in the landscape of Argentine culture. What used to be just of minor signifi cance in certain writers, mostly linked to occultism, led to a strong infl uence of the deep Indian philosophy along the following decades and, also, to an endless interest in India, its culture, dance, music, yoga, and meditation practice.

Inspired by Tagore´s Vishva Quarterly, Sur (south, in Spanish) magazine is founded by Victoria Ocampo in 1931: a complete cultural project that promoted sincere dialogue among cultures: Latin and North America; America and Europe; the West and the East, and the South and the South.

Among the people gathered around Victoria Ocampo at Sur magazine, there is one that stands out: the great Gandhian writer, Adolfo de Obieta, who, in 1996, received the Jamnalal Bajaj Award for the way he promoted Gandhian values in Spanish speaking countries

In this sense, Victoria Ocampo and Tagore’s infl uence anticipated the reality to come in the 21st century.

Both Tagore’s and Gandhi’s ideas, even acknowledging their diff erent way of facing the challenges of life, show the West the complete spectrum of what India is really like: not just mystics unaware of what happens around them but wise people working hard to make their dreams come true while being endlessly patient; a global vision of life as a whole and an interdependent reality in which philosophy, science, and politics work all together towards a common goal: the welfare of humankind. The real face of India starts to be shown at that time.

In Sur magazine, there was a special place for the new ideals of the non-violent movement which was led by

Mahatma Gandhi, translated into politics by Jawaharlal Nehru and into the spiritual and personal practice by Vinoba Bhave in India and Lanza del Vasto in the West.

Ten years later, in 1935, Jeddu Krishnamurti will stay at Victoria Ocampo’s house in his two-month visit to Argentina.

The 40s will see this new generation looking at India as a source of wisdom and human inspiration. Moreover, Indian masters began to travel to South America, mainly Argentina

and Uruguay, in order to teach yoga for the fi rst time ever.

How important Argentina had become to India is shown in the description of the following event: when in May 1953 Victoria Ocampo is imprisoned by the Peronist government, one among all the voices that are heard in the world crying out loud for her release is that of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India. His intervention was decisive in twisting the decision of General Perón at a particularly belligerent time of his government.

Politics will also reflect this budding relationship: In 1949, India’s political presence in Argentina turned from a simple offi ce to an embassy. A year later, the Argentine consulate in Kolkatta since the 20s, moved to Delhi to become the Argentine embassy.

In 1961 Argentine President Frondizi was the fi rst Latin American president to be invited to India. Reaffi rmed the commitment of both

nations to peace, he was received at the Red Fort by Prime Minister Nehru, and, also, at the Parliament.

In 1968 Indira Gandhi´s visit to Argentina illustrates how the India-Argentina relationship had been growing over the last decades. Among all her activity there, she presented Victoria Ocampo with the honorary doctorate from Viswa Bharati University. A photograph of Indira Gandhi with Victoria Ocampo is still one of the main icons in one of the

In 1968 Indira Gandhi´s visit to Argentina illustrates how the India-Argentina relationship had been growing over the last decades. Among all her activity there, she presented Victoria Ocampo with the honorary doctorate from Viswa Bharati University.

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Lunch in honour of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during her visit to Argentina, 30 September 1968, in Villa Ocampo

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guest rooms in Villa Ocampo’s Museum in San Isidro.The 60s will also witness the birth of Indian studies

in Argentine universities, with Dr. Vicente Fatone, Prof. Armando Asti Vera, Fernando Tola, and Dr. Carmen Dragonetti.

Ismael Quiles, a Jesuit priest fond of Indian culture and yoga practice, in 1961 created the Eastern Studies Centre, 6 years later transformed into the School of Eastern Studies at the Salvador University (USAL), the only college that off ers a graduate course in Indian studies which enables students to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Eastern Studies in Latin America.

Moreover, outside university Indian culture and philosophy were also assuming an important role for Argentine people, always open to a worldwide view and eager to satisfy their spiritual hunger with authentic Indian teachings. In 1962 presence of traditional Indian institutions added to Ramakrishna Ashram another one: Swami Shivapremananda, one of Swami Sivananda´s disciples, arrived in Buenos Aires and founded the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre. He still nowadays, in his 90s, keeps doing so.

In 1977, an Argentine Philosophy teacher Ada Albrecht, came back from her second trip to India, where Vedantic masters taught her, and inspired by Indian spiritual universalism, founded Hastinapur Foundation to be devoted to teaching spiritual philosophy. This institution has spread from Argentina to several other Latinamerican countries.

In 1983, the revival of the democratic tradition in Argentina, after years of military government, sees the Indian embassy led by Dr. Lakhan Lal Mehrotra, who did hard work to promote Indian culture in the country both in academic arenas and popular locations. Along with Hastinapur Foundation, he organized the fi rst Indian Festival in Buenos Aires and invited President Raúl Alfonsín to travel to India in 1985, as a special guest of the Republic Day Celebration.

Hastinapur Publishing House was founded in 1983 and has been translating Indian classical texts for more than 30 years. Nowadays, is about to fi nish the complete Mahabharat Spanish translation in 12 volumes. First full translation in a western language, apart from English.

The latest three Indian ambassadors have changed the way the Indian government is present in Argentina. In 2005 Amb. Rengaraj Vishwanatan renewed the Indian Festival in Buenos Aires with the cooperation of the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts-EPCH at an important exhibition centre in Buenos Aires downtown and includes the visit of renowned Indian craftsmen along with performances of music and dance, lectures, art exhibitions, and so on. The last edition, in 2014, gathered over 30.000 people and accounted for nearly a hundred events.

Former Amb. Amarendra Khatua decided to take India beyond Buenos Aires in 2012, the fi rst time ever. Since then, India has developed a federal relationship with the whole

country. The Indian Festival has been organized in many provinces and cities outside Buenos Aires: Neuquén, Jujuy, Tandil, Almirante Brown, Córdoba, and La Plata among others. The governors of Mendoza, San Luis, Córdoba, and so on, have been visiting India in order to promote commercial relationships between the two countries, which has led to a trade increase over 2 thousand million dollars.

Since 2016, present Ambassador, Sanjiv Ranjan, continued this federal relationship to the Regional States apart from National Government. Besides he has been working hard to promote the commercial and touristic relationship between the two countries. Just a sample of that action, along with the last three years tourists travelling from Argentina to India, have Increased more than 20 percent, from 10325 to 12308.

An Indian poetry festival was organized on June 10, 2016, with distinguished poet and translator Yuyutsu RD Sharma and diplomat Abhay Kumar which was followed by a performance by Argentine Odissi dancer Anandini Dasi. Two memorandum of understandings (MoU) were signed in 2016 : one on cooperation in the fi eld of research and education in Homeopathic medicine and the second one is the establishment of an ‘academic chair’ in Ayurveda between Central Council on Research in Ayurvedic Sciences, Ministry of AYUSH and Fundacion de Salud Ayurveda Prema, from Argentina.

Along this year the main representatives of the Indian Government have been attending at Buenos Aires and other cities of the country (Mendoza, Mar del Plata, etc) more than 80 working group meetings, apart from another 80 of Sherpa and Finance meetings.

A few months ago the fi lm “Thinking of Him” has been released at Argentine cinemas showing the mentioned relation between Rabindranath Tagore and Victoria Ocampo, in an India-Argentina coproduction, directed by Argentine fi lmmaker, Pablo Cesar.

Since 2012, at the Argentine Radio FM Radio Cultura, directed by Gustavo Canzobre, is broadcasted weekly an hour radio program, NIKETAN, dealing with to cultural, economic, educational, touristic and consular news between Argentina and India. Niketan is one of the few media permanent media programs in Spanish Speaking Countries devoted exclusively to India.

It is certainly clear that India has been very present among the Argentine intelligentsia and has therefore signifi cantly contributed to the growth of Argentina’s cultural framework over the last 170 years. Not merely a cultural relationship; it is also an enduring passion that has overcome apparently insurmountable obstacles and thrived on each and every opportunity in order to get closer to India.

* The author is Indologist, Director at Fundación Hastinapura

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ACADEMIC COOPERATION BETWEEN ARGENTINA AND INDIA

IntroductionThe relationship between the university and the community

is currently being developed within the framework of a reconfi guration of the public, which is no longer linked only to the State but as a space for citizen participation, proposing in turn a work dynamic of the university in its relations with the community, which implies having the citizens as protagonists (Tonon, 2012).

Associated with the above, taking into account the political dimension, Mojica Mendieta (2011) points out that the globalization scenario implies an epistemological challenge for the social sciences, related to generating new analytical categories that account for the transformations and constraints in the agency of people.

In such a way that currently, it is observed: a) an increase in the number of researchers in the world and as a result of the growing centrality of scientifi c and technological knowledge in the development of societies, in the processes of functional interdependence, b) an increase in the speed of changes, the abolition of the frontiers of the spaces for the production of knowledge (Carli, 2014, refers to the erosion of the borders of the disciplines and the appearance of modes of production of transdisciplinary knowledge) and national borders (Kreimer, 2006, 2011), c) a competition between the hegemonic blocks (North America, Europe, Asia) for the scientifi c and technological predominance (Kreimer and Zukerfeld, 2014).

In this scenario, most of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean developed in recent years, policies aimed at stimulating both the generation and local use of scientifi c and technological knowledge, highlighting the discursive centrality that science and technology occupy. in the interventions of state agents and society itself.

Thus, Delgado and Casalis (2013) point out that since its origins in the 12th and 13th centuries the university emerged

By Dr. Lía Rodriguez de la Vega*

with the social function of the search for knowledge of truth and teaching activity. With the advent of modernity and the industrial revolution (late 18th and early 19th century), the function of research was incorporated. During the 20th century the role of contributing to the solution of specifi c social problems (Björn, 1996), or university extension. In the present, the social functions of the university are teaching, research and university extension. They add that during the fi rst decade of the 21st century, there was a renewed relationship between the university and society, given in the context of the emergence of a diff erent productive model. In this framework, a more territorialized university was observed, committed to the production of applied knowledge and the implementation of development practices.

For such considerations, they follow Carrillo López and Mosqueda Gómez (2006, p.3), in the notion of the social function of the university, conceived as: a social process (in) that directly interpella the university and the social system crossed by a series of changes, conjunctures and contingencies. The social function is the result of direct interpellation between the university (seen here as a social macroinstitution) and social processes in specifi c historical contexts.

This new perspective on the role of the university in its relationship with the community, which considers the transmission of scientifi c knowledge and at the same time advances a human development proposal, assigns centrality to the process of citizenship construction (Tonon, 2012).

In this context, in the study of diversity (which in this case involves Asia and Latin America) the notions of culture (universe of meanings) (Geertz 1973/2003), identity (the subjective part of the culture) (Giménez, 2007) and space are central to such a task. In this sense, Oslender (2002), points out that “the concept of space has always been political and saturated with a complex network of power/knowledge

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relations, expressed in material and discursive landscapes of domination and resistance”. On the other hand, Lefevre (1974) points out that space is a social product, which results from the determined production relations that produce at a certain moment, as well as the result of the accumulation of a historical process that materializes in a certain way territorial space. That is to say that any refl ection on the space fi nds diff erent levels, related in turn to imaginaries and social representations that about the “Others” are made from the diff erent social spaces (academic and non-academic) and are related to the geopolitics of knowledge.

Everything stated assumes knowledge as transforming praxis and the impact of the various dimensions on the researcher refers to the possibilities and limits of her/his task.

Studies about India in ArgentinaResearch in the fi eld of Indian Studies, in fact, takes place

in Latin America in general and Argentina in particular for several decades.

In this context, to the prestigious fi gures and pioneering task of Vicente Fatone, Fernando Tola Mendoza and Carmen Dragonetti (the latter two, the largest producers of direct translations from Sanskrit and other languages original texts directly to Spanish, in the Spanish-speaking world, besides creators of the prestigious Journal of Buddhist Studies, Spanish-speaking first magazine of its kind, which was released between 1991 and 1997, working at the National University of San Marcos, Peru and diff erent universities and the CONICET in Argentina), it must be add the development of diff erent institutional spaces, with various university centers, programs, Chairs, academic events and scientifi c publications.

In the specifi c case of Argentina, adding to the initiatives of the Center of Asia and Africa Studies (COLMEX, Mexico), among others, we can mention the enormous task of the Latin American Association of Asia and Africa Studies (ALADAA), whose Argentine Section is very active, which brings together academics and students of all the country’s institutions that develop studies of Asia and Africa.

Moreover, the think tank, Argentine Council for International Relations (CARI) has, within the framework of its Asian Aff airs Committee (headed by Ambassador Eduardo Sadous), a Working Group on India and South Asia, which gather university colleagues and students, performs annual seminars, publishes its work and a bimonthly newsletter (counting with Argentine and Indian collaborators). As part of the task of the Group, there have been made among other activities, conferences with Dr. Sonya Gupta (Jamia Millia Islamia University) in 2011, Drs. Ishita Banerjee and Saurabh Dube (El Colegio de México) in 2012, Dr. Aparajita Gangopadhyay (Goa University) in 2013, Master Bobby Luthra Sinha (Bassel University) in 2015, Dr. Vibha Maurya, Dr. Vijaya Venkataraman and Dr. Maneesha Taneja (Delhi University) in 2015 and sessions with the Indian

ambassadors in Argentina, Argentine ambassadors in India and other diplomats.

In addition, since 2015, a number of academic institutions co-organized the so-called International Conference on India, whose second edition was held in June 2017 and it has the support of the Embassy of India in Argentina. In its fi rst edition, it was attended by Master Bobby Luthra Sinha (Bassel University) as a lecturer and Dr. Fernando Tola Mendoza was honored in his 100 years, who delivered two lectures on the occasion: “The Mahabharata” and “The monumental work of Panini” (Rodriguez de la Vega, 2016).

Other collaborations are for example the visit of Professor Carlos Moneta (Tres de Febrero National University) to India under the Indian Council of Cultural Relation’s Academic Visitors Program and the visit of Dr. Lía Rodriguez de la Vega and Master Juan Miguel Massot to India on the occasion of the l International Conference “Focus Latin America: The Need for an Eff ective Program”, organized by the Indian Council for World Aff airs and held at Sapru House, New Delhi, India (October 24 and 25), within the framework of the agreement between ICWA and CARI, which brought together various Indian and Latin American scholars and diplomats. This presence was replicated in 2018, in the second event organized by ICWA, in Brasilia, Brazil.

In the case of India, various institutions have Centers dedicated to the study of Latin America and/or their languages (in the case of Argentina, Spanish)1 Among others we can mention:

• Center for Spanish and Latin American Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia University, whose Offi ciating Director is Mrs Shubada Kaul. This center has interacted and interacts with diff erent Argentine institutions and in 2011, Professor Sonya Surabhi Gupta (Director of the Center at that time) visited Argentina and held conferences in various institutions, such as diff erent universities and CARI.

• Center for Latin American Studies, Goa University, directed by Dr. Aparajita Gangopadhyay. This center has also interacted and interacts with diff erent Argentine institutions and in the course of the last years, Dr. Gangopadhyay has visited Argentina twice and held conferences in various institutions (among them, CARI). Likewise, in October 2016, Dr. Rodriguez de la Vega and Mag. Juan Miguel Massot (Palermo University, CARI)2, visited Goa University and off ered lectures in it. As a corollary of such exchanges, the signing of an agreement between Goa University and Palermo University (Argentine Republic) is currently being discussed.

• Africa, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, O.P. Jindal Global University.

• Centre for Latin American Literature & Culture, Jadavpur University.

• Centre for Canadian, US & Latin American Studies (CCUS & LAS), Jawaharlal Nehru University.

• Centre of Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Latin American

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Studies, School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University.

• Department of Germanic and Romance Studies, University of Delhi. In this case, as it was said before, Dr. Maurya, Dr. Venkataraman and Dr. Taneja visited CARI in 2015. Likewise, Dr. Rodriguez de la Vega (UNLZ, UP, FIEB, CARI) participated at the International Conference “India / Latin America. Emerging Epistemological Options & Inter / Cross / Transcultural Dialogues. A Sur / South Conference”, organized by the Department of Germanic and Romanic Studies, held at the University of Delhi and the India International Center, New Delhi, India (10,11 and 12 November).

ConclusionThe possibilities that open up in terms of academic

cooperation are truly diverse and extremely important. What happens in a university inserted in the community life is closely related to citizenship and public action spaces, while a university educational proposal that recognizes and involves diff erent modes of apprehension of reality contributes to articulate citizens and professionals in the construction of knowledge that can account for a diverse world and in this case, contribute to the relationship between both countries, within the framework of democratic values in the management of diversity and contributing to enhance all other areas of exchange.

The perspective of cooperation between the academic spaces of both countries undoubtedly allows us to think of a deeper bilateral relationship, which compromises a more developed dynamic between academia and government management and a greater commitment to the construction of South-South cooperation.

ReferencesCarli, S. (2014). Las Ciencias Sociales en Argentina: itinerarios

intelectuales, disciplinas académicas y pasiones políticas. Nómadas, 41, 63-77. Retrieved from http://www.redalyc.org/pdf/1051/105133774005.pdf

Carrillo López, M. y Mosqueda Gómez, C. (2006). “La función social de la Universidad: concepto, transformaciones y perspectivas en el tiempo”. Ponencia presentada en el 6º Congreso Internacional Retos y Expectativas de la Universidad: “El Papel de la Universidad en la Transformación de la Sociedad”, (1·-3 de junio), organizado por la Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, México. Retrieved from http://wintukua.blogspot.com.ar/2011/05/la-funcion-social-de-la-universidad.html

Delgado, D. y Casalis, A. (2013). Modelo de desarrollo y universidad en Argentina. Análisis crítico y contribución de la extensión universitaria al desarrollo local y regional. Revista +E, 3, 23-40.

Geertz, C. (1973/2003). La interpretación de las culturas. Barcelona: Editorial Gedisa.

Giménez, G. (2007). Cultura política e Identidad. En Giménez, G. Estudios sobre la cultura y las identidades sociales (pp. 195-214). México: Conaculta-Iteso.

Kreimer, P. (2011). Internacionalização e tensões da ciência latino-americana. Ciência e Cultura, 63 (2), 56-59. Retrieved from http://cienciaecultura.bvs.br/pdf/cic/v63n2/a18v63n2.pdf

(2006) . ¿Dependientes o in tegrados? La c iencia latinoamericana y la división internacional del trabajo. Nómadas, 24, 199-212.Retrieved from http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=105116598017

Kreimer, P. y Zukerfeld, M. (2014). La explotación cognitiva: Tensiones emergentes en la producción y uso social de conocimientos científi cos tradicionales, informacionales y laborales. En Kreimer, P; Vessuri, H; Velho, L. & Arellano, A. (Coords.).Perspectivas latinoamericanas en el estudio social de la ciencia, la tecnología y el conocimiento (pp. 178-193). México, D.F: Siglo XXl.

Lefevre, H. (1974). La producción del espacio. Papers: revista de sociologia, 3, 219‐229. Retrieved from http://blogs.fad.unam.mx/asignatura/nadia_osornio/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/lefebvre-la-produccion-del-espacio.pdf

Mojica Mendieta, F. J. (2011). Investigación cualitativa, epistemología y poder simbólico. Trama. Revista de Tecnología, cultura y desarrollo, ll, 2, pp. 7-20. Retrieved from http://www.tec.ac.cr/sitios/Docencia/cienciassociales/revista_trama/pdf/revista.pdf

Oslender, U. (2002). Espacio, lugar y movimientos sociales: hacia una “espacialidad de resistencia”. Scripta Nova. Revista electrónica de geografía y ciencias sociales, VI (115). Retrieved from http://www.ub.es/geocrit/sn/sn-115.htm

Rodriguez de la Vega, L. (2016). “Culture and power: migration, social representations and knowledge production from Argentina on India”. Paper presented at the International Conference “Focus Latin America: The Need for an Eff ective Programme”, organized by the Indian Council for World Aff airs. Sapru House, New Delhi, India (October, 24 - 25).

Tonon, G. (2012). Las relaciones universidad-comunidad: un espacio de reconfiguración de lo público. POLIs Revista Latinoamericana, 32. Retrieved from https://polis.revues.org/6691?lang=en

1 In an event recently held in Buenos Aires, Gustavo Zlauvinen (Undersecretary of Foreign Policy, Ministry of Foreign Aff airs and Worship of Argentina) highlighted the work of the Embassy of Argentina in India and the Consulate General in Mumbai in the dissemination of Spanish as a foreign language and the implementation of the CELU / Certifi cate of Spanish: Language and Use. It was also mentioned that within the framework of the Southern Subsidy Program for Translations (PROSUR), it was agreed with several Indian publishers to cover translation costs of classic Argentine literary works to be published in Hindi, Marathi and Bengali (some are already published and in 2018, Los Siete Locos and El Juguete Rabioso by Roberto Arlt will also be published).

2 The author thanks the permanent support of the Argentine Embassy in India and the Indian embassy in Argentina.

* The author is researcher and professor at Lomas de Zamora National University; Palermo University; Buddhist Studies Institute Foundation; Working Group on India and South Asia, Asian Aff airs Committee, Argentina Council for International Relations; Latin American Association for Asian and African Studie

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DEVELOPMENT OF AYURVEDIC MEDICINE IN ARGENTINA

By Dr. Sergio Lais-Suarez

The Ayurvedic Medicine began its approach with Argentina in the year 1980 after a group of 23 Argentine persons arrived in New Delhi to be trained

in Vedic Science at the World Assembly of Vedic Science where 7 thousand peoples from all continents gather during 6 months. Within this Science, there are important chapters on Ayurvedic Medicine.

Since that time many achievements were carried out to spread the knowledge of Ayurveda in Argentina and those can be listed as follow:

1985: The Health Ministry of La Rioja Province created the “Committee to Study Ayurvedic Medicine”.

1996: The Universidad Abierta InterAmericana (UAI) created the fi rst Extraordinary Chair of Ayurvedic Medicine, being the first University in Latin America to offer a University Diploma for Doctors in Ayurvedic Medicine.

1996: The fi rst Ayurvedic In-Patient Clinic & Health Resort was opened in the Province of Córdoba with 40 rooms and 6 treatment rooms for Panchakarma. At this Ayurvedic Center arrived for treatments Ministers of the National Government, the Vice-President of the country, important Journalists, Actresses, etc. The most important journalistic media of Argentina made numerous notes and T.V. programs allowing to a massive diff usion of Ayurvedic Medicine.

2000: The Fundación de Salud Ayurveda Prema was created.

2000: The Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) began an Ayurveda Course for Health Professional and the general public in association with the Fundación de Salud Ayurveda Prema

2004: The Universidad Maimonides began an Ayurveda Course for Health Professional and the general public.

2009-2013: Broadcast of the International TV Program on Health & Ayurveda, Utilisima Channel (FOX TV) for America & Europe.

2013: The Universidad Católica de Cordoba began a Ayurveda Materia at the last year of the Medical School

into the Obligatory Final Practice.2016: The Universidad Nacional de Rosario and the

Universidad Nacional de Formosa began an Ayurveda Course.

Along these years several MoU were signed among Indian and Argentinean Universities/Foundations:

• UAI University with Manipal University, Benares Hindu University, and Gujarat Ayurveda University

• Fundacion Ayurveda Prema with Gujarat Ayurveda University

• CEAMA with the Sanskriti University of HardiwarAlso, there are several Non-Profit Association on

Ayurveda as CEAMA, ASSANA, AAYUS and many others that are teaching Ayurveda to the general public and Health Professionals and Indian Institutions including Maharishi Ayurveda Products International, Art of Living Foundation and others, teaching Ayurveda and off ering their health products.

Today in Argentina there are hundreds of medical doctors trained in Ayurveda Medicine that are taking care of about one thousand patients. In order to improve this, the future of Ayurveda in Argentina and in Latin America should include:1) The approval of Ayurveda as an authorized medical

specialitation at the National Level.2) The presence of the most important ayurvedic labs from

India off ering their product for a huge variety of ailments,3) All the National Universities of Argentina should have

a pre-degree and post-degree training in Ayurveda for Medical Doctors, Health Professional, Nurses, Paramedics, etc.

4) All the Governmental and Private Hospitals should have an Ayurvedic Area for O.P.D and I.P.D for treatments.

5) The Health Insurances should include every specialization of Ayurveda Medicine as an option for all patients.

* The author is a Surgeon Doctor; Diploma in Clinical Oncology; Pioneer in Ayurveda in Argentina since 1980; “Ambassador of Ayurveda” according The Hindu Newspaper; Chairman of Ayurveda Department at UAI University; Founder of the First Ayurveda Clinic & Health Resort in Argentina; International Speaker on Ayurveda; Anchor of Ayurveda at Utilisima TV Channel (FOX TV) and Honorary Consul of India in Córdoba

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BUENOS AIRES

The Thriving City of Argentina

WWW.ETHIOPIANAIRLINES.COM

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By Anish Narang*

YERBA MATE TEA WITH LOVE FROM ARGENTINA

Yerba Mate (Mah-tay) Tea is a native tree (Ilex Paraguariensis) from the green forest in South America. Argentina is the world’s leading producer

of yerba mate, and within Argentina, the plant is cultivated in the provinces of Misiones and north-eastern.

The origins of yerba mate come from the Guaraní natives, who used its leaves as a drink, cult, and currency in their exchanges with other prehistoric cultures. For the Guarani, the yerba mate tree is the tree par excellence, a gift from the gods. Later the Jesuits introduced its cultivation in large reductions. They were responsible for yerba mate was known in the civilized world. The Yerba Mate in Argentina is prepared and drunk in a pumpkin glass made of wood and metal (Gourd cup) and a bombilla (Straw).

The preparation of mate is a simple process, consisting of fi lling a container with yerba, pouring hot, but not boiling, water over the leaves, and drinking with a straw, the bombilla, which acts as a fi lter to draw only the liquid and not the yerba leaves. The gourd is nearly fi lled with yerba, and hot water, typically at 70 to 85 °C (158 to 185 °F).

Yerba mate is consumed by thousands of people in diff erent countries around the world because of its nutritional properties and variety in the ways of consumption.

In India, Karavan Advisory Enterprises LLP in association with the Instituto Nacional de la Yerba Mate Tea (INYM) have launched Argentine Yerba Mate Tea in India with an agenda of opening its route to the Indian tea market by means of popularizing the benefi ts and scientifi c signifi cance which the Argentine Yerba Mate off ers. Distributors Sunshine Tea based out of Delhi, and Chado Tea, based out of Mumbai have started the importation of Yerba Mate in India and redistributing Yerba Mate blends online and retail.

In India, we will be introducing Argentine Yerba Mate along with Green Tea in ‘Tea Bags’ and ‘Loose Mate Tea’ with popular Indian blends such as Ginger, Cardamom, Aniseeds, Tulsi, Ginger, Honey, Lemongrass, Rose, Saff ron, Mango and other spices catering to the Indian taste and provide the customers with the amazing health (medicinal) benefi ts of Argentine Yerba Mate.

Medicinal and Health Benefi ts of Yerba MateHigher Antioxidants: The yerba mate infusions present

a great antioxidant power due to its high concentration of polyphenols, and it is ranked in a very privileged position among natural elements carrying the highest antioxidant power.

Helps to Lower Bad Cholesterol levels: The results of a scientifi c study by a team of researchers confi rm that consumption of yerba mate helps to reduce bad cholesterol (LDL) and triglycerides and improvement of plasma lipid profi le.

Anti- Obesity and Anti-Diabetic properties: Yerba Mate has therapeutic properties to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes through weight management. Consumption of Mate reduces the fi nal body weight, glucose blood levels, and insulin resistance.

Cancer Prevention: Yerba Mate is considered as a potential both pro-health and anti-tumor factor in human colon. The free radical properties of Yerba mate extract on human normal colonic epithelial and human colon carcinoma cells.

Anti-infl ammatory properties: Yerba mate (YM) has been shown to have anti-infl ammatory properties. It exerts anti-infl ammatory action and important immunomodulatory and anti-infl ammatory profi le.

Source of Vitamins: Yerba mate contains B-group vitamins. The body needs 13 vitamins, and 8 of them are B-group vitamins, which are essential for body functions such as energy and red blood cells production.

Source of Minerals: Yerba mate contains minerals (aluminum, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, nickel, potassium and zinc among others), an essential mineral that is necessary for the correct function of the heart, and helps the body to incorporate proteins.

* The author is Managing Director, Karavan Advisory Enterprises LLP (Karavan)

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always been so considered. Malbec is not one among them; it has had its share of rocky fortune. From being

pretty much unheard of until as recently as the late 1990s, it has come a long way. Today, Malbec is not only a requisite for any serious wine list in restaurants around the world, but it is also a sommelier’s favourite to fi ll wine enthusiasts’ cups with quality and consistency.

Malbec was born in the heartland of Bordeaux where it was nurtured under the names of Côt and Pressac. Often called “black wine” by the English, it boasts masculinity in its tannin-rich, spiciness often requiring to be mellowed with the assistance of Merlot and Tannat. Auxxerois is what the locals call it.

But apart from this small corner of France, Malbec had lost its appeal and importance in the land of its birth. It now had to seek a foreign haven. The high hills of South America proved congenial for the varietal and it backpacked its way happily to Argentina to fi nd its true spirit.

In a short period of time, it overtook Criolla Grande and Cereza to become the country’s most planted varietal for bottled table wines. The idea was to replace jug wines made from the existing varietals with a formidable local identity that would not only mark the rise of clean, varietal-driven, quality produce but also boost the image of Argentinian wines to the world. Mendoza’s vineyards of Lujan de Cuyo,

neighbouring the Andes Mountains, attracted the varietal and an orgy of new-age winemaking began, that leaned on Malbec and allowed it to display its true potential. Cold nights at high altitude ensured a long growing season, with ripeness and extra fl avour in the grapes, without losing acidity.

Approximately 75 percent of the Argentine acreage is now under Malbec. The better wines, displaying elegance and fi nesse, are said to come from grapes grown at an altitude of 1,000 metres and up. Grapes sourced from the lower vineyards produce wines with excess jamminess and lack of structure, and a tendency towards fl abby mouth feel owing to a lack of acidity.

The sudden rise in demand for Malbec due to its popularity around the world has attracted foreign investments in Argentina. Giants like Michel Rolland (Clos de los Siete), Donald Hess (Colomé and Amalaya), and renowned wineries like Château Cheval Blanc (Cheval des Andes), Lafi te Rothschild (CaRo), LVMH (Terrazas de los Andes), and Montes (Kaiken) are some of the companies investing not merely money, but also their trust and confi dence in the grape. Thanks to these prominent names, any reluctance to pay big bucks for Argentine wines has disappeared, and the wine now travels abroad to Chile, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and India.

This article was fi rst appeared in Sommelier India(India’s premier wine magazine)

WINES OF ARGENTINA

MENDOZA’S MARVELLOUS MALBEC

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STRENGTHENING BILATERAL RELATIONS IN CULTURE

By Verónica Flores y Maya Alvisa Barroso*

Dube (1999) argues that culture has to be understood as the symbolic, structured attitudes, norms and practices through which social relations are

perceived, articulated and experienced. Associated with this, identity is considered a set of internalized cultural repertoires by which social actors symbolically mark their borders (Giménez, 2000).

For its part, Liland (1993) notes that: a) culture can be considered as the foundation of the foreign policy of a nation-state, b) it can be considered as part of foreign policy (cultural diplomacy) and c) it can be considered as a resource in itself, for foreign policy.

There are innumerable examples of cultural manifestations that connect both countries in addition to the cultural activities that both embassies develop (Argentina and India). As an example, it can be mentioned in the Indian dance scene in Argentina, the task of Mirta Barbié, renowned Argentine classical dancer who was trained in India in its classical dances and established a group of outstanding disciples: Silvia Rissi -with very active work at DurgaMa School-, Leonora Bonetto, Anandini Dasi, etc. Anita Nieva Rosas, from Salta, spreads the Bhangra dance.

The beauty of the classical dance of India has also approached the interior of the country, through exhibitions such as those held this year in Villa General Belgrano, Córdoba, on the celebration of the National Independence of India. Other cultural programs and visits of Indian dance companies have been carried out in several cities, including San Salvador de Jujuy, Almirante Brown, Tandil, Paraná and Río Cuarto.

Vaidya (2015) notes on the other hand, addressing the development of

tango in India, that it has aroused interest there for some time now but its current growth in classes, social events and a large number of attendees in Bangalore and Mumbai happened in the last 5 years, partly because tango instructors visit the country regularly or live partially there.

Considering Indian music in Argentina (sitar, table, etc.), we can mention: Roberto Kúcser and his group Giraff es in India, Rakshikananda Das, Ariel Chab, Sergio Bulgakov, Leo Fernández, Mira Tevsic and Carolina Chrem (singing), etc.

For its part, the Argentine singer Patricia Sosa participated in 2015 of the World Culture Festival The Art of Living in India, along with other Argentine artists such as Ignacio Escribano from Indra Mantras (the fi rst pop mantras project of South America that combines Indian and Latin American sounds (India Mantras, n.d.), etc. (Télam, 2015).

In terms of performances and theater, Gustavo Canzobre, with his “Gitanjali”, based on texts by Rabindranath Tagore; “A Sun, a Poet”, based on the lyrics of the Indian poet Kabir, which add to his work at “Niketan India al día”, a radio program sponsored by the Embassy of India in Argentina and many other activities that he develops over his work at the

Hastinapura Foundation. It can also be mentioned Geraldine Seff and her work with Kathakali theater.

In recent years, the deep interest of the Argentine public for India and its material and immaterial culture has also been expressed in art exhibitions. The most relevant for the value and diversity of the pieces exhibited was organized in 2015 by the Ministry of Culture of Argentina in the National House of the Bicentennial. With the title “Myths and symbols of Indian art”, this exhibition brought together more than seventy delicate pieces that Gustavo Canzobre. Performance “ A Sun, a Poet”.

Dancer Silvia RissiClassical dance of India in Villa General Belgrano

(Córdoba), 2018.

Myths and Symbols of Indian Art exposed in the National House of the Bicentennial, 2015.

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make up the valuable Indian collection of the National Museum of Oriental Art.

The exhibition displayed the traditional art of India through myths and symbols typical of two of its most important cultural traditions: Hinduism and Buddhism. Tapestries, paintings, bronzes and sculptures were part of a visual journey that allowed the public to know the essential aspects of Indian millenary culture with its vigorous and unique spiritual, religious and artistic elements.

Also in 2015, Raqs Media Collective (Monica Narula, Jeebesh Bagchi, and Shuddhabrata Sengupta), created in Delhi in 1992, made an exhibition at the PROA Foundation in the City of Buenos Aires (PROA, 2015a).

Considering cinema, it can be mentioned that in 2015, 4 Argentine fi lms participated in the International Film Festival of India (The Indian Express, 2015). For its part, in 2018 an Argentine-Indian co-production, directed by Pablo César and filmed in both countries, “Thinking of him”, which addresses the relationship of Tagore and Victoria Ocampo, was released.

References:Cartelera de cine (2018). Recuperado de https://www.google.

com.ar/search?q=afi che+de+Pensando+en+%C3%A9l+(Pablo+Cesar)&rlz=1C1GGRV_enAR751AR751&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj2opD124feAhXFlZAKHXUNCnUQsAR6BAgFEAE&biw=1024&bih=657#imgrc=WvDv7LxkDtUGrM:

Dube, S.(Coord) (1999). Pasados Poscoloniales. México: El Colegio de México.

Giménez, G. (2000). Identidades en globalización. Espiral, Vll, 19, pp. 27-48.

Indra Mantras (n.d.). Indra Mantras. Retrieved from http://indramantras.com/en/proyecto/

La Casa del Bicentenario (2015). Mitos y símbolos del arte de la India. Retrieved from https://casadelbicentenario.gob.ar/31791/agenda-y noticias/agenda/exposiciones-mitos-y-simbolos-del-arte-de-la-india-en-la-coleccion-del-museo-nacional-de-arte-oriental-2

Liland, F. (1993). Culture and Foreign Policy. An Indroduction to Approaches and Theory. Noruega: IFS.

Municipalidad de Villa General Belgrano. Comenzó India en VGB. Retrieved from http://vgb.gov.ar/municipalidad/comenzo-india-en-vgb/

Museo Nacional de Arte Oriental (2018). Industrias culturales de Oriente: Bollywood. Retrieved from https://mnao.cultura.gob.ar/actividad/industrias-culturales-de-oriente-bollywood/

In relation to the cultural industries of India, in 2018 there was a cycle of cultural events in the National Senate sponsored by the National Museum of Oriental Art of Argentina in which the current characteristics of the Bollywood cinema, its outstanding volume of production as well as the its international projection were exposed. In the light of the Indian film model, the connection between the production and distribution model of India and that of Argentina was also discussed, considering the identity and commercial keys to success. These numerous cultural and artistic expressions have collaborated in bringing India closer to the Argentine public.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that besides the design of foreign policy by the State, the task of culture involves diff erent social agents that help to conceive exchanges between the two countries based on a network idea, which articulates diff erent agents and it deepens and richly diversifi es that relationship.

Part of Raqs Media Collective Exposition at PROA Foundation (PROA, 2015b)

Poster of the coproduction “Thinking of Him”, by Pablo César (2018).(Cartelera de cine, 2018)

PROA (2015a). PROA Exhibiciones. Presentación Raqs Media Collective: ·Es posible porque es posible”. Retrieved from http://www.proa.org/esp/exhibition-raqs-media-collective.php

Proa (2015b). Obras- Raqs Media Collective-Exhibiciones-Fundación PROA. Retrieved from http://proa.org/esp/exhibition-raqs-media-collective-obras-2-image.php

Secretaría de Cultura de la Nación (2018) Industrias culturales de Oriente: Bollywood. Retrieved from https://www.cultura.gob.ar/industrias-culturales-de-oriente-bollywood_6576/

(2015). Se exponen mitos y símbolos del arte de la India en la Casa del Bicentenario. Retrieved from https://www.cultura.gob.ar/noticias/se-exponen-mitos-y-simbolos-del-arte-de-la-india-en-la-casa-del-bicentenario/

Télam (2015). Patricia Sosa representará a la Argentina en In-dia. Retrieved from https://inrosario.com.ar/noticias/inradio/59367-patricia-sosa-representara-a-la-argentina-en-la-india.html

The Indian Express (2015). 46th IFFI opens tomorrow, will showcase fi lms from 89 nations. The Indian Express (November, 19). Retrieved from https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/46th-iffi-opens-tomorrow-will-showcase-films-from-89-nations/

Vaidya, A. (2015). Tracing the Argentine tango in India. Forbes (June 30). Retrieved from http://www.forbesindia.com/article/live/tracing-the-argentine-tango

*The author is researcher at USAL, UBA, Working Group on India and South Asia, Asian Aff airs Committee, CARI

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Argentina is a destination which offers ample opportunity to experience the stunning natural surroundings, participate in active adventure sports

and discover a culture that is rich in history, tradition and an appreciation of life’s pleasures. It is by far one of the most diverse countries in the world and is an absolute dreamland destination to visit for tourists.

Argentina is the birthplace of Tango and is like the dance itself it is elegant, exquisite, seductive and bustling with excited energy. As time has gone by the world has become a closer place. Travel has become more accessible which has given many people the opportunity to experience more. The country that enjoys favorable climate through the year is an absolute delight for travelers and off ers some extraordinary attractions like the majestic Perito Moreno glacier – the progressive glacier where travelers can watch the miraculous sight of the ice collapsing, the energetic Iguazú falls-named as one of the seven natural wonders of the world, the stunning wine regions with a backdrop of snow-capped peaks, the Valdes Peninsula on the Patagonia coastline famous for its wildlife, Ushuaia – commonly known as the end of the world, the gorgeous city of Buenos Aires, lovely tango performances, thrilling sports where soccer and polo are considered to be the fi nest in the world as well as fabulous adventure options which includes interaction with penguins, whale watching, swimming with the seals, the gaucho experience and so much more.

Travelers want to create holidays which are beyond the ordinary and have been fascinated with the marvelous scenery, stunning attractions, vibrant cities, a variety of cuisine along with wine tourism bundled with adventure, sport, and

entertainment. For this reason, Argentina fi ts in very well with Indian travelers as it allows them to create a unique holiday based on their preferences. It is a country which will always go that extra mile to please visitors. Over time, people are just learning more about this wonderful country. They want to experience niche activities and with so much choice the country attracts so many more people. The destination off ers a variety of products which can be packaged in an innovative way, so it can cater to every traveler.

The picture-perfect old neighborhoods of Buenos Aires are surrounded by romantic restaurants and a thumping nightlife. The Buenos Aires European heritage is evident in its beautiful architecture and Latin America’s shopping capital off ers the promise of premium retail therapy along its grand, wide boulevards. Travelers can enjoy the breathtaking scenery, stays in luxury accommodations, meals in gourmet restaurants, fine wines and Argentina’s well-deserved reputation for hospitality.

The Indian traveler is looking for fresh and bold experiences and Argentina off ers exactly that! It is a top-notch destination which lets the Indian traveler discover many jewels in one trip. With such a good assortment of products bundled in one big goodie bag, packaged with mind-blowing landscapes, the idea to create superb itineraries can be left to your imagination. Your mind, your body and your courage will take you to far off places. Be bold, be innovative and you will be able to create an electrifying holiday that will make your heart beat faster allowing you to fulfi ll your deepest desires making this trip extra special.

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THE MANY WONDERS OF ARGENTINA By Kanai Morarji*

* The author is partner of Knack Marketing, Mumbai

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THE BAGUALA: FROM THE ARGENTINE PUNA TO THE HIMALAYAS MOUNTAINS

THE CHANT PARADISEBy Dr. Santiago Lusardi Girelli

The Argentine man has an earthly and spiritual fi liation that seals and defi nes its idiosyncrasy in his craving to be built, to become. Towards a path to a particular

form to defi ne it, from long ago, the man who inhabited the lands of Argentas aspired, perhaps to counteract this sense of remoteness (within himself and the rest of humanity) to achieve enduring features in all areas of his reality, including music.

Perhaps, because of this, the Argentine folkloric music is characterized by a dynamism illuminated by the spirit of nature within the contingent dimensions of its historical cosmos, and according to a task which it needed to fulfi l: a geographical horizon that challenges it and that has confi ned it to the end of the world.

As the famous folkloric Argentinean copla says:“Le doy ventaja a los vientos, porque no puedo volar,

hasta que agarro mi caja, y la empiezo a bagualear..”

Which translation is: “I give advantage to the winds because

I cannot fl y until I grab my box and start to “Bagualear” …

Argentine Folkloric music has plenty of rhythmic expressions, colors, and instruments. One of them is the Baguala, an ancestral music form which is sung in octosyllabic verses, often improvised spontaneously, with the ternary rhythm of very uniform and slow tempo, marked by a percussion instrument called Caja (box) and always played by the singer. The Baguala conforms a sacred and festive ritual which is characteristic of ancient Andean culture (from the Andes mountains). More than a song, the Baguala is a universe of sound, a one-thousand-year-old expression technique with deep hidden powerful melodies.

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From the Puna folkloric lore to the Himalayan Buddhism

The s ac r ed s i nge r s o f the valleys of the Argentine Northwest, the “vallistos”, Baguala singers, descend from the Andean centuries and even today they can be heard singing in the Puna hills revealing with their voices another dimension of singing: the alignment of the terrestrial and the sidereal through the sonorous celebration of existence. When we listen to them, we land in the deep, naked and unique America, and discover it. Their singing speeches are the supreme nakedness, they, with their song of only three notes, build a sound architecture that leads the human voice from the abyss to the fi rmament. This “vertical moan” re-signifi es the hierarchy of the cry and the lament as sacralities of the initiate (I strongly recommend listening to the Bagualas of Melania Pérez, Leda Balladares and Mariana Carrizo, and especially the Bagualas of the “Persecuted Payador”, the great Atahualpa Yupanqui).

In these “moaning songs” of the man and the women who inhabit the hills of northwestern Argentina, we can fi nd the track of many spiritual realities. “Their silence without content, without technique or purpose and their ability to be-being, manifests a cosmic wisdom” (Carlos Astrada, The Gaucho Myth, 1948). It is very interesting that the pantheistic metaphysics of the Baguala is in intimate communion with the Buddhist thought of India, which, perhaps inspired by the same majestic and imposing nature, also searches for ways of abstraction, meditation and the practice of philosophy as a way to establish communication with that silence that is contemplative and creative, typical of the cultures that inhabit the heights (not only in the singing of the indigenous Baguala singers of northern Argentina, but also in the intonations of the monks of the Himalayas). Undoubtedly, the dispersive eff ect that the power of the imposing nature of the Puna and the Himalayas -with its immeasurable immensity- produces on the man who inhabits it, along with an inhibitory perplexity, confi rms a particular meeting point between these cultures.

It seems that it is in the wild and naked substance of that ancestral song that the Argentinian Bagualas communicates with the philosophy and silence of the liturgical songs of the Buddhist culture of the Himalayas. When

singing, they both seek to eliminate the space that separates the self from nature and reality, through a simple, almost savage exercise. For both, this exercise of wild intonation is essential to recover the human nature.

The Silence as a Source of InspirationThe culture of the Andes Mountains has been forged by the

contemplation of the silence of the Puna. Even though today´s silence seems to be an utopian state in the harsh rhythm of the contemporary man, silence has always been a constituent element of human experience which is even more evident in the ancestral cultures. Perhaps for this reason, both, the Baguala singing and the intonation of the Buddhist liturgical songs reveal a “launch” of the human beings into metaphysical experiences and realities that start from silence and seek to return to it. Many works of contemporary classical music, for example, the musical movement called Avant Garde, led by the American composer John Cage (who professed a veiled Buddhism in his compositions, such as the work 4.33 which is built only with silence ..., yes with silence), reveal that need to recover the connection with reality, nature and pure sound through the resignifi cation of silence, beyond the classic canons of beauty and proportion. This search for a manifest “sincere”, “naked” and “stripped” silence is also present in works of other renowned composers of the twentieth century: in the naked minimalism of Philip Glass (with his opera Satyāgraha [Insistence on truth] based on the life of Mahatma Gandhi); in the Aleatoric Music, the Radical and Sincere Avant-garde style of Karl Stockhausen (i.e. in his music piece Gesäng der Jünglinge [The song of the adolescents], which is electronic music); or in the stripped Micro-polyphony of Gyorgi Ligeti (in his magnifi cent opera Le Grand Macabre, released in 1978).

The truth is that, although less intellectually developed than in the works of Cage, Glass, Stockhausen or Ligeti, the Argentine Baguala also seeks to re-signify the wild human nakedness archetype against the absurdity of existence. The Baguala song resembles the eternal echo of the hills, and that is why, by means of its melodic constitution, is built in

The culture of the Andes Mountains has been forged by the contemplation of the silence of the Puna. Even though today´s silence seems to be an utopian state in the harsh rhythm of the contemporary man, silence has always been a constituent element of human experience which is even more evident in the ancestral cultures.

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a tripartite scale (the simplest existing musical scale), which manages to create a perpetual unique present, without folds, that allows us to learn the revaluation of silence as the most noble place to be inhabited.

Folkloric Music: The Human SongArgentine folkloric music has its roots in the multiplicity

of indigenous cultures that inhabited the territory before the arrival of the Spaniards. It became a form of hybridization between diff erent cultures, a mixture or miscegenation of ancestral, indigenous, African, Creole and European sources. All these cultures chiseled in a diverse geographic space and during a long historical time, two new, unique genres were formed: Tango and Folklore, the music of the city and the music of the countryside.

are integrated in this way to the musical experience. Among the various ancestral chants that have been preserved, we can fi nd the Yo ‘Ogoñí (“The dawn”), a Gom chant (indigenous tribe of the Argentine North) which was performed daily to sing at dawn evoking the solar rhythm and its cadences.

The Cosmic WheelThe reference to the wheel and the circular is fundamental

in the metaphysics of Argentine folkloric music. The recurrent as an image of time places us before the cosmic symbol of Buddhism, before an undoubted oriental resonance in the Argentine folkloric cosmogony. It is known that, for the Buddha, the rays of the cosmic wheel are constituted in an infi nite number, which symbolizes the always renewed human hopes, yearnings, and longings. The rays are paths of life that not only crisscross and intersect but also inevitably converge and are integrated in the whole, absorbed by its immutable unity. But the Argentine “folkloric karma” has even other deep notes of similarity with the Buddhist karma. In both, the destiny is not imposed but consciously accepted. The certainty that destiny can be modifi ed by human’s desire confi rms that, with the power of his will, the man can place himself aware of the action of natural elements in order to face them and affi rm human´s supremacy against them.

In concordance with the Buddhist stoicism, Leda Valladares, Argentine researcher, musicologist and singer (1919-2012) who worked for the recovery and conservation of the American cultural musical heritage wrote: “Comfort is the worst drug: it takes the man away from sensitivity, the heroic dimension, the sense of adventure, poetry and mystery, it confi nes him to a gentrifi cation, making him rickety (...) We must return to the countryside and the mountains (Leda Valladares: her passion for America, 1970, Julio 2, La Gaceta, p. s.d. L.) The Argentine musicologist, perhaps unwittingly, reveals in her work part of the Buddhist “creed”: the dispossession and the song as a way of realization, ephemeral art as an exercise of contemplation and assumption of the cosmic order.

It seems a quite challenging task to reveal the alchemical composition of the Argentine music and that of other regions of the world, where from long ago, men embraced their land and have sung this symbiosis. Maybe one day we may be able to experience and recognize this intuition of the song as wisdom, the song-trance as revelation, and “then we will want to be born again in the paradise of song, in Matto Grosso, in the Calchaquí Valleys, in the Congo or in the Himalayas, where man meets his terrestrial roots and summarizes human history in an exhilarating song” (Leda Valladares, The Wild Substance of the Song, 1973).

* The author is Chair Professor – Western Music Chair / Goa University, India

Within the Folkloric genres, the Puna indigenous music is not only characterized by a strong sacred component, in which the song is performed a cappella or accompanied by a Caja (simple percussion wood and leader instrument), but it also includes and embraces the interaction with nature. Instruments like the naseré, the sereré and the coioc simulate the song of the birds and provoke the response of these, which

Among the various ancestral chants that have been preserved, we can fi nd the Yo ‘Ogoñí (“The dawn”), a Gom chant (indigenous tribe of the Argentine North) which was performed daily to sing at dawn evoking the solar rhythm and its cadences.

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La Pegasus Polo founded by Horse lover, Polo enthusiast, and Businessman Sanjay Jindal will be hosting a 22 Goal Argentine Team to play a series of

matches against the La Pegasus Indian All Stars Team. The Tour will cover iconic Indian Cities like Jodhpur, Jaipur, Delhi, and Gurgaon. This will be the fi rst ever foray of an offi cial Argentine Team to this part of the World.

The fi nal match of the Tour will be played at the historic Jaipur Polo Ground in New Delhi on the 12th of January 2019 and the Teams will fi ght for the Argentine Ambassador’s Polo Cup instituted by H.E. Ambassador Daniel Chuburu, Argentine Ambassador to India and presented to La Pegasus Polo.

This will be the fi rst-ever Polo Tour which will travel across 4 cities and will be a heady mix of World class sports, fashion, music, lifestyle, and parties.

The highlights of the Tour are enumerated below-• Global Polo Icons, including a 10 Goal Polo Player, will

be part of the visiting team. This will be the fi rst time a +10 Goal player will be playing in India. The Argentine Team will be captained by Eduardo Novillo Astrada, a Sports and Brand Icon/Ambassador and also the President of the AAP.

• Eduardo Novillo Astrada will be accompanied by his wife Astrid Munoz who is an established Global fashion Icon and Brand. She is the fi rst Puerto Rican Super

(DEC 2018 – JAN 2019)

LA PEGASUS POLO ARGENTINA TOUR OF INDIA

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Model to break into the fashion world of Paris. Astrid has also reinvented herself as a Polo Fashion and Lifestyle Photographer and she will be exhibiting her Photography to Indian audiences for the fi rst time ever.

• As curators and hosts to the Argentinian Polo team, La Pegasus will be holding a series of Polo Matches and post-match experiences to celebrate this momentous visit, as Indian Polo has never witnessed this level of Polo in its recent history.

• With a view to make this Experience a highlight for the Lifestyle Sports and Fashion afi cionados of the Country, La Pegasus will be hosting Bilateral matches and post-match events that will be the talk of town and media in India and abroad, here are some important dates:

• 29 Dec 2018 - Jodhpur: Pro Am Charity Match with the Top Polo Patrons, followed by a post-event party at the Polo Grounds, in a specially constructed Hangar

• 31 Dec 2018 - Jodhpur: New Year’s Party at the Mehrangarh Fort, hosted by the erstwhile ruler of Marwar His Highness Maharaja Gaj Singh II of Jodhpur, a diehard supporter and Patron of Polo

• 3 Jan 2019 - Jaipur: Black tie Dinner at Taj Rambagh Palace / Raj Mahal Palace for a Social Rendezvous with the visiting Argentinian and La Pegasus Indian Teams. Invitation only aff air for select 300 Guests

• 5 Jan 2019 –New Delhi- 1st Test Match, followed by Post Match Party at Jaipur Polo Grounds, New Delhi

• 11 Jan 2019 – Gurgaon: Pro Am Charity Match with the Top Polo Patrons, Post Match Party at Gurgaon Polo Club.

• 12 Jan 2019 – New Delhi: 2st Test Match, followed by Post Match Party at a 5 Star hotel in New Delhi.