Argentina’s Ambassador to India, Hugo Javier Gobbi, has underscored the significance of the Lithium deal between the two nations, stating, “It’s a big step in that ongoing process, the production of lithium in Argentina would link both economies for a very long time.” Speaking to our diplomatic correspondent Sidhant Sibal, he expressed optimism that the agreement would “enrich the bilateral relations in a very significant way.”
The recent agreement between India’s KABIL and Argentina’s Camyen Se involves the exploration and development of 5 lithium brine blocks in Catamarca, representing India’s inaugural lithium project by an Indian government company, valued at Rs 200 crore. With this Agreement, KABIL has obtained Exploration and Exclusivity Right for 5 blocks to evaluate, prospect and explore and subsequent to the existence/discovery of lithium mineral, exploitation right for commercial production.
Addressing defence ties, Ambassador Gobbi expressed his country’s interest in India’s Tejas fighter jets, noting, “Our pilot has come here to try the Tejas, and they were really very well surprised with the technology and the capacity of the Tejas.”
WION: India and Argentina have signed a key pact on Lithium, if you can give details on that?
Hugo Javier Gobbi: Well, this is a very important milestone because it’s part of a process that has been taking place, which meant many meetings between Indian and Argentina govt authorities, at the national and provincial level. It’s a big step in that ongoing process, the production of lithium in Argentina would link both economies for a very long time because, you know, mining projects usually link economies for 20 years or 30 years. You don’t make big investments only for a short period of time. They would have a long period of time of production and supply to the industrial base. So it will link both economies in a very substantial way with a critical mineral of a very sensitive mineral for a long period of time. And so that will enrich the bilateral relations in a very significant way.
WION: How big are the deposits of lithium in your country?
Hugo Javier Gobbi: Well as you know, Argentina is a part of what’s called the lithium triangle with Chile and Bolivia. So there you have some of the most significant reserves of lithium in the world especially of brine lithium, which is a lithium that is produced in lake-like conditions in high altitudes. So it’s very rich in Lithium and it’s very well looked after because of its quality and of course, Argentina has very significant reserves. And this one has the capacity to provide India’s automobile industries, batteries industry with the supply that will be needed for its development of electric cars, for example.
WION: Any figure on investment you are looking at?
Hugo Javier Gobbi: Well the investment in this stage is $25 million, because it’s the final stage of exploration, you know, it’s not yet the production of Lithium that will require a larger investment because you have to put the infrastructure to get the lithium out of the thing and it is a very technically challenging process. But this is a milestone because we pass to our very advanced moment of exploration. Usually, you know, in mining, it usually takes five to 10 years for the process to start producing the mineral. So, if you look at it, we are in the advanced stage, the first half of the process. So this is a very significant step and this has to be followed by other steps in the future. And, I think this will be an opportunity to really create a deep economic relationship between our two countries.
WION: So moving tracks, you are about to leave your tenure here in Delhi. If you can sum up your tenure here in Delhi, the key achievements under your tenure?
Hugo Javier Gobbi: Well the key achievements were actually, you know, Argentina has signed with India, that we are our strategic partners. That was done in 2019. So my challenge was to put into that framework, and add elements, one of which was mining, of course, lithium and gold. Argentina is very rich in natural resources. You can see the outcome of the efforts that were made throughout many years. Of course, another area that has strategic significance for Argentina is the Malvinas issue. India has always backed Argentina and we wanted to keep this issue alive in Indian society so we created a commission with very significant personalities of Indian society and that shows India’s backing for Argentina’s claim of sovereignty in the Malvinas. We appreciate India’s backing in the UN, in G77 and in different forums. India has a deep tradition in its fight against colonialism and this is part of the decolonization process. We had conversations in the nuclear field, science and technology. A lot of advancement was made, a lot of progress was made in this space area. Trade has expanded very much. So it has begun to diversify also. Investments in both ways have increased, the political context has increased very much, we received the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of India. The minister of Foreign Affairs came here twice. So I was very active for three years. I can express gratitude to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India who pushed forward so much with this agenda and, of course, India’s ambassador in work in Buenos Aires, Dinesh Bhatia who was my partner in all of these measures and of course the government of Argentina. We opened a defence attaché office, which created a new line of cooperation in many areas of the defence field. So I’m very happy that our bilateral relation has advanced and I’m sure that the next ambassador that comes here will continue to forward that relationship. And I know the commitment of the Indian government to push forward this relationship because if you look at the world the complementarities between Argentina and India are huge, one of the most complimentary and the opportunities are great. Lot of coordination in the multilateral area, Argentina backed India’s G 20, which was a very successful event that which nobody was betting on a declaration and India managed to get everybody together to have a declaration which was a huge success. Nobody expected and we backed India all of the way, throughout that process that was very challenging, because the geopolitical tensions are growing and they’re very challenging. And India pulled it through and we are very proud of having been able to with other emerging economies to have helped India in that process.
WION: You mentioned defence, is the Argentinian side keen on India’s Tejas?
Hugo Javier Gobbi: You know, there were a lot of conversations and those processes are long and difficult. Argentina is under a lot of pressure, budgetary pressure. So, the conversations have started and have developed in many other fields because we have developed cooperation in the helicopter for example. In that area, Argentina has made a contract with India in that area. There have been a lot of corporations in the defence field. Military officers from India go to Argentina, to participate in the Antarctic mission that Argentina has every year. Our pilot has come here to try the Tejas and they were really very well surprised with the technology and the capacity of the Tejas. So we have advanced very much, and I hope this will continue and diversify and add many other areas of the defence cooperation agenda forward and well we opened a Military Attaches office here that was of great help to developing the agenda. The perspectives between the two countries to continue developing the defence agenda are very, very good.
WION: You can talk about Argentina’s stance on BRICS and India’s role as well in terms of backing you last year for the membership of the grouping.
Hugo Javier Gobbi: It was a big success because Argentina was invited after a long process, and we received all of the backing of India throughout this process. And we have all expressed our gratitude to India for backing us throughout the process which was very difficult because there were many candidates, many candidates and a lot of interest in joining the BRICS and India pushed very hard so Argentina could join. Argentina at this moment is having difficulties, yes, and as you know, it’s evaluating many of the things in its foreign policy. So it was not totally prepared to change the government. We were not totally prepared to join at this moment. But as an Argentinian official, I can only praise the gratitude of the Argentinian people for India’s backing throughout this process.
