India and Argentina: Analyzing Trade Prospects and Identifying Potential

India and Argentina celebrated 75 years of their diplomatic ties in 2024, elevating to a strategic partnership in 2019. Despite the long-standing relationship, the full potential of the bilateral relations is unrealized. Trade between partner countries has flourished over the years, reaching a peak of $5.2 billion in 2022. It is concerning to note that, despite growing trade, India’s trade balance is widening due to the dominance of India’s huge import of refined oil from Argentina. In this context, the article analyses the bilateral trade relationship between India and Argentina from 1998 to 2023. It also identifies potential export commodities using the revealed comparative advantage and import intensity index. The results indicate that there are hundreds of commodities at the HS 4-digit level from sectors such as chemicals, textiles and clothing, metals, machinery and electrical, among others, which India can export to narrow the trade deficit. This study has important policy implications for India’s stature as a voice of the Global South and offers a diversification opportunity in this globally elevated tariff uncertainty.