India has had 'limited' diplomatic ties with the South American continent, with the exception of some of the larger countries like Brazil (which is parts of BRICS) and Chile. However, baby steps towards developing greater links with other countries in South America are being taken.
Several of the smaller countries have opened missions in India in the last few years. Bolivia is one of these countries. In an interview with THE WEEK, Bolivia's ambassador to India, Sergio Dario Arispe Barrientos, spoke about why India should invest in his country.
Bolivia opened its diplomatic mission in India four years ago. Since then, how much have our diplomatic relations advanced?
The mission opened in 2014, but we established diplomatic ties in 1984. Unfortunately, we have not managed to get any big visits either way. We've had some ministerial visits to India, and recently, India's minister of state for Railways, Rajen Gohain, visited our country.
But there is scope for so much more. We are keen to build up ties with India, because by 2050, India will be the largest market in the world. In the next 10 years, it will be the third-largest economy in the world. Countries like ours can work with India in mutually beneficial pacts.
Could you elaborate on areas of mutual benefit?
We have the needs of a developing country—education and research and development, for instance. We look towards India for both. We are English speaking, too, so, there is no language barrier like we have with China. India specialises in R&D for people with lower per capita income, like the LED bulb revolution. The technology solutions that Europe provides are expensive.
Bolivia needs infrastructure, it will be a good opportunity for India to explore this sector. So far, there was just one private sector deal, which fell through.
We look at India as a large and stable market for our produce. India should explore opportunities in South America before other countries move in. Already, China has become Chile's largest trading partner.
Bolivia has large lithium reserves; could that be the game-changer in your economy?
We are hoping it will. By a rough estimate, between one-fourth to one-third of all the world's lithium reserves are in Bolivia. Now that lithium batteries are being used as clean fuel, we see potential to have a lithium-driven economy.
Unlike Australia and Chile, where lithium needs to be mined from rock, in Bolivia, the reserves are in the vast salt flats that extend around 10, 814 square salt flats. Lithium has to be extracted the same way as salt is, by evaporating the water in salt pans. Then, the salts have to be refined to separate the lithium. There is one German company that has set up a plant to extract the mineral, which produces 15,000 tonnes a year, but there is enormous potential to up the mining.
Those salt pans of Bolivia are exquisite natural wonders, known as the largest mirror in the world for the beautiful reflections. Won't this beautiful place be destroyed if you begin panning lithium there?
Fortunately, the best lithium reserves are concentrated at one tip of the salt flats. Of course, we will be careful to preserve the beauty of the flats, because apart from being an asset, it is also a tourist attraction. The song sequence of a Telugu film was recently shot there!