Dr. S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of India, co-chaired the India-CELAC Expanded Troika Meeting along with Mr. Mario Lubetkin, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay on 22nd September 2026 on the sidelines of the 81st session of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. The Foreign Minister of Saint Lucia Mr. Alva Baptiste also outlined his roles within the Troika.
The India-CELAC Foreign Ministers Meet (FMM) saw strong participation where 30 out of 33 CELAC members participated in the FMM including 16 Foreign Ministers and 05 Vice Ministers Level participation. Foreign Ministers of Uruguay, St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and Grenadians, Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela participated in the meeting among others.
Participants welcomed the landmark achievement of India–CELAC bilateral trade reaching $50 billion in 2025–26, while emphasizing the immense potential for further growth. The discussions further focused on strengthening India-CELAC cooperation, enhancing trade and development partnerships, and addressing global challenges through multilateralism. Both sides emphasized the importance of deepening political dialogue, economic collaboration, and people-to-people exchanges. They also agreed to work on establishing an institutional mechanism for reviewing the engagements periodically.
CELAC members expressed appreciation for India’s swift humanitarian response to Jamaica, Venezuela and Colombia following earthquakes in 2025 and 2026. India reaffirmed its commitment to deepening its partnership with CELAC countries across a broad range of areas, including trade, climate action, renewable energy, digital transformation, health, food security, critical minerals, infrastructure building, space cooperation, agriculture, HADR and Capacity building. Both sides recognized the importance of expanding collaboration for their mutual benefit.
The meeting reflected India’s growing engagement in the Latin America & Caribbean region and the mutual desire to take the partnership to greater heights.