Drone tech emerges as key focus in India-Argentina talks

Drone technology emerged as a standout area of potential collaboration between India and Argentina as Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Latin American nation ahead of his trip to Brazil for the BRICS summit.

During talks with Argentine President Javier Milei on Saturday, both sides explored enhancing cooperation in the fields of critical minerals, oil & gas, defence, nuclear energy and space besides agriculture, in the backdrop of Argentina having the potential to emerge as a robust partner in the Global South.

Briefing reporters in Buenos Aires after the meeting, P Kumaran, external affairs secretary (east), said, "The conversation also significantly dealt with the use of drones and multiple purposes for which they can be put into. The President showed a lot of interest in the uses that drones are being put to in India. There was discussion about using it to tackle IUU fishing (illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing) especially encroaching fishermen into exclusive economic zones of Argentina."


There was also talk about using drones for cattle management, increasing agricultural productivity, and for border surveillance, he said, adding the Argentine side also discussed deploying drones for surveillance of high-tension power transmission lines instead of helicopters, which is much more expensive.

Modi also briefed Milei on India's Namo Drone Didi scheme and how it is being used to enhance agriculture productivity by involving rural women in using drones for administering fertilisers, and pesticides, besides land surveys to determine land boundaries.

Critical minerals and energy partnership was on the agenda as well. India has taken a lead in importing lithium from Argentina. India also expressed interest in importing shale gas.