India and Chile Agree to Negotiate a Comprehensive Trade Pact, Sign Copper and Antarctica Deals
India and Chile agreed to start negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). This will be a much wider trade deal than the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) the two countries already have. The announcement came during the Chilean President's State visit to India (1 to 5 April 2025).
CODELCO, Chile's state-owned company and the world's biggest copper producer, signed a cooperation agreement with India's public sector Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL). It covers sharing knowledge on exploring for copper, mining it and processing the ore (beneficiation), plus staff training.
The copper deal matters to both sides. India needs a steady supply of copper and other critical minerals for power lines, electric vehicles and solar energy. Chile, in turn, can reduce its heavy dependence on selling to China.
The two countries also agreed to deepen cooperation in Antarctica. They signed a Letter of Intent for joint research, to be carried out by India's National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) and the Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH). It sets up, for the first time, a bilateral dialogue on Antarctic affairs.
Other documents covered disaster management, police cooperation against organised crime and cybercrime, the disability sector, a cultural exchange programme and renewal of an MoU on geology and mineral resources.
Later, on 8 May 2025, the two sides signed the Terms of Reference (the agreed rulebook and list of topics) for the CEPA talks. Critical minerals are a key part of these talks.
Free Trade Agreements: Concept and WTO Framework
A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is a deal between two or more countries to remove or sharply cut import taxes (tariffs) on most goods they trade with each other. India uses different names for these deals depending on how deep they go. A Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) is the shallowest: it cuts tariffs only on a limited list of goods, and often only partly. A CEPA is the deepest: it covers goods, services, investment and many other areas such as digital trade.
India and Chile are moving from a narrow PTA, which only cuts tariffs on a fixed list of goods, to a full CEPA. This shift from a "shallow" to a "deep" trade deal is exactly the difference UPSC likes to test.
Critical Minerals: Meaning, India's List and Global Supply Chains
Critical minerals are minerals that a country badly needs for its economy and security, but whose supply is at risk. They are used in EV batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, electronics and defence equipment. Because a few countries mine or process most of them, a single supplier can squeeze everyone else. That is why India is trying to build partnerships with many mineral-rich countries.
The CODELCO and Hindustan Copper agreement is a step towards securing copper for India from a trusted source outside China's supply chain. Chile's copper and lithium explain why critical minerals are a core part of the planned India-Chile CEPA.
Antarctic Treaty System and India's Antarctic Programme
Antarctica is the icy continent around the South Pole. No single country governs it. Instead, it is managed by a set of international agreements called the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS). The main idea is simple: Antarctica must be used only for peace and science, and not for war, weapons or mining. India has been part of this system since 1983 and runs permanent research stations there.
Chile is one of the 12 original signatories of the Antarctic Treaty and one of the seven countries claiming Antarctic territory, and its southern ports are a main gateway to the continent. The new India-Chile Letter of Intent links NCPOR with the Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH) for joint research, which can make Indian expeditions easier and cheaper.
- Chilean President's State visit to India: 1 to 5 April 2025
- India-Chile PTA: signed 2006, in force August 2007; expanded PTA in force 16 May 2017
- Expanded PTA: Chile gives concessions on 1,798 tariff lines; India on 1,031
- CEPA Terms of Reference signed on 8 May 2025
- CODELCO (Chile) and Hindustan Copper Limited (India) signed a cooperation agreement on exploration, mining and beneficiation
- Chile: world's largest copper producer; world's largest lithium reserves; part of the "Lithium Triangle" with Argentina and Bolivia
- India-Chile trade in 2023-24: about US$ 2.45 billion
- India's list of critical minerals: 30 (2023), including copper and lithium
- Antarctica: Letter of Intent between NCPOR (India) and INACH (Chile)
- India joined the Antarctic Treaty on 19 August 1983; Maitri (1989) and Bharati (2012) are its working stations