INDIA - CELAC

These study notes explain what the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) is, why it was set up, and why India has been keen to build a partnership with it. They sit in our current affairs library at One Young India Resources, and pair well with the wider world affairs guides on the Learnacy Hub.

What is CELAC?

The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, known as CELAC, is a regional group that brings together the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. The idea took shape at a Rio Group and Caribbean summit on 23 February 2010. The bloc was formally launched on 3 December 2011 in Caracas, Venezuela, when leaders signed the Declaration of Caracas.

CELAC is made up of 33 sovereign countries across the Americas, home to hundreds of millions of people. Importantly, it does not include the United States or Canada. European countries with territories in the region, such as the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands, are not members either.

What is CELAC's aim?

CELAC grew out of a ten year effort to deepen Latin American integration and to reduce the strong influence that the United States once had over the region's politics and economics. Because it deliberately leaves out the United States and Canada, it works alongside, and at times as a counterweight to, the Organization of American States (OAS), the older regional body that does include Washington.

The first CELAC summit

The opening summit of CELAC had been planned for the middle of 2011, but Hugo Chavez, the President of the host nation Venezuela, postponed it. The meeting was finally held in Caracas in December 2011. The global economic crisis and its effects were the main subjects of discussion.

Several leaders, including Presidents Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina and Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, called for more trade within the region, faster economic development and closer cooperation between members in order to protect their growing economies. Chavez, along with Rafael Correa and Daniel Ortega, hoped the bloc would help the region act together and depend less on the United States.

Members also used the meeting to voice long standing disagreements with United States policy in the region, including the trade embargo on Cuba.

Why India looked towards CELAC

CELAC exists partly because Latin American countries wanted a forum of their own, without the United States setting the agenda. With Europe and the United States focused on their own debt problems and political changes, the region began to look for new partners.

By this time China had become a major trading partner for Latin America, with two way trade running into hundreds of billions of dollars a year. Its presence rested on two things: a huge exchange of goods and raw materials, and a large community of people of Chinese origin living in the region. Some in Latin America welcomed the flow of Chinese goods, while others worried about it.

This is where India saw an opening. India offered Latin America a chance to spread its partnerships more widely, and in return the region gave India access to a large and promising market. Chile's Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno put it simply:

India was chosen as the first dialogue partner because of its size, similar political positions, and affinity for developing countries.

The India-CELAC Joint Statement set out several ways for the two sides to work together, including:

• a Business Council
• a CEO Forum
• an Energy Forum
• a Science Forum
• an Agricultural Experts group

Energy: the starting point

Energy has been the most important part of the India and Latin America relationship. Trade in this area has run past 10 billion US dollars a year, making up close to 10 percent of India's total oil imports. Growing instability in the Middle East, and repeated sanctions on Iran, pushed India to look for new suppliers such as Latin America.

Two private Indian oil companies, Reliance and Essar, led the way. This was not a one off step: Essar planned to bring in about one third of its crude oil from Latin America, a share equal to or greater than its Middle Eastern supplies. These companies showed that long distances and different types of crude oil could be managed.

India and CELAC agreed to set up an Energy Forum to support closer energy cooperation. Beyond oil, agriculture also matters in India and CELAC trade, with edible oils and sugar making up much of it. Cooperation in science and technology, transport and infrastructure could bind the two sides even more closely.

India could also deepen its links by joining the Inter-American Development Bank, which would open up more credit for Indian investors in the region. India already has embassies across Latin America, and Indian firms, especially in information technology, have a strong presence there. Whether India and CELAC build a lasting partnership will depend on the political and economic will of both sides.

The India-CELAC summit

On 7 August the India-CELAC Troika Foreign Ministers met for the first time in New Delhi. Both sides carried out a full review of their relations and discussed regional and global issues of shared concern, such as reform of the United Nations, the world financial crisis, climate change and international terrorism.

Key highlights of the summit

The ministers welcomed the growing ties between India and the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. They agreed to work together while respecting each side's own development priorities, based on shared values of democracy, freedom, equality and justice.

They agreed to increase visits between India and CELAC at every level, including summit level, with the aim of building a strategic partnership. They also stressed the value of meeting every year, in India and in the CELAC country holding the rotating presidency.

Investment and trade

The ministers were pleased with the growth of India's trade, economic and investment links with CELAC. They noted that although trade between India and the region passed 25 billion US dollars in 2012, it was still well below its true potential. To close that gap, they called for more varied trade, taking part in each other's trade fairs, exchanging business delegations, building clear rules, and improving air and shipping links. They agreed to form an India-CELAC Business Council and an India-CELAC CEOs Forum.

Energy security

Both sides agreed that energy security is central to economic growth. They decided to set up an energy forum to work on this, including cooperation on renewable energy.

Minerals

India recognised that Latin America is rich in a wide range of mineral resources that could help support India's growth. Both sides agreed to add value in the minerals trade through direct trading and by setting up manufacturing units, and India offered to help map the region's geology. They also stressed the need to encourage investment in each other's economies.

Why it still matters

These notes describe an early stage of the India-CELAC story, but the relationship has kept growing since then, which is what makes it worth studying today.

After a gap of five years, the India-CELAC forum was revived in September 2022, when India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met the CELAC Quartet of foreign ministers on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Both sides said they were pleased to bring the forum back to life.

The trade numbers have climbed too. Where India and the region traded about 25 billion US dollars in 2012, that figure reached close to 39 billion US dollars in the 2024 to 2025 financial year, though officials on both sides still say it is below its full potential. Latin America now sends India crude oil, copper, lithium and farm goods, while India sends back medicines, vehicles and other manufactured products.

The minerals theme in these notes has become very current. India's state owned company KABIL has secured rights to explore for lithium in Argentina, a metal that is vital for the batteries in phones and electric vehicles. Argentina sits inside the so called lithium triangle, which holds a large share of the world's supply.

CELAC itself is very much alive. The bloc still holds annual summits, and in 2025 Colombia held its rotating presidency. On 9 to 10 November 2025 the fourth CELAC and European Union summit was held in Santa Marta, Colombia, bringing together the 33 CELAC states and the 27 members of the European Union, and co-chaired by Colombia's President Gustavo Petro. Together, the two regions make up about 14 percent of the world's people, 21 percent of global output and one third of the membership of the United Nations. That helps answer a question these notes once left open: CELAC has proved to be lasting rather than temporary.

India has stayed active across the wider region too. Its Prime Minister took part in the second India-CARICOM summit in Guyana on 20 November 2024, and made visits to Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina and Brazil between 2 and 9 July 2025. If you want to understand the bigger picture of how countries build partnerships and rivalries like these, our International Relations guide on the Learnacy Hub is a useful next step.

Sources

1. https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/chile/joint-press-release-fourth-celac-eu-summit-take-place-9-10-november-2025_en
2. https://www.aninews.in/news/world/us/india-celac-forum-activated-after-five-years20220919213221/
3. https://visionias.in/current-affairs/monthly-magazine/2025-08-19/international-relations/india-latin-american-and-caribbean-countries-ties
4. https://www.india-briefing.com/news/india-latin-america-trade-investment-outlook-2026-41757.html/
5. https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/04/08/33-countries-meet-in-tegucigalpa-honduras-at-the-annual-celac-summit/

Key takeaways

• CELAC is a regional bloc of 33 Latin American and Caribbean nations that was formally established in 2011.
• The organization was created to strengthen regional integration and reduce the political and economic influence of the United States, intentionally excluding both the US and Canada.
• Latin American countries sought to diversify their international partnerships beyond the US, Europe, and China, finding India to be a strong alternative due to its market size and shared developing-nation perspectives.
• Energy forms the foundation of the India-CELAC relationship, with Latin America supplying nearly ten percent of India's oil imports as India seeks reliable alternatives to Middle Eastern suppliers.
• Beyond the oil trade, India and CELAC plan to expand their cooperation into agriculture, science, and infrastructure through joint initiatives like an Energy Forum and a Business Council.

Test yourself

In what city and country was CELAC formally launched in December 2011?

Caracas, Venezuela.

Which older regional organization does CELAC sometimes act as a counterweight to?

The Organization of American States (OAS).

What percentage of India's total oil imports comes from Latin America?

Close to 10 percent.