<p>The visit had been scheduled for earlier this year, but was postponed as Prime Manmohan Singh had to recuperate from his heart surgery.<br />The trip will mark 15 years since the last visit by a head of state of Argentina - then president Carlos Menem's trip to India in 1994. A reciprocal visit by former Indian prime minister P.V Narasimha Rao took place in 1994.<br /><br />Accompanied by the Argentine foreign minister and a business delegation, Kirchner will hold discussions with Singh Oct 14. A number of Indian leaders including Vice President Hamid Ansari, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani will be calling on her.<br />President Pratibha Patil will hold a state banquet in her honour Wednesday evening. Kirchner will leave for further engagements in Agra and Mumbai Thursday.<br />"A number of agreements for cooperation are expected to be signed during the visit and will cover wide-ranging areas such as sports, science and technology, industrial research, hydrocarbons, trade promotion and business visas," said a statement released by the ministry of external affairs.<br />Signifying a robust economic relationship, bilateral trade volume has increased by 87 percent in five years from $694 million in 2003 to $1.3 billion in 2008.<br /><br />Argentina has been a major source of agricultural products, especially edible oils like soya and sunflower oil. The balance of trade is in favour of Argentina, with imports at $836 million, being nearly double of exports from India at $492 million in 2008.<br />With India being a large scale importer of oilseeds and pulses, Argentina will continue to be a major source, especially due to its higher agricultural productivity, which is almost three times that of India.<br />Acquisition of large swathes of agricultural land has also been explored by some Indian groups, like Solvents Extractors Association of India and State Trading Corporation.<br />Indian companies have already made investments in information technology, pharmaceuticals, agro-chemicals and mining sectors in Argentina to the tune of $119 million.<br />On the energy front, ONGC Videsh is likely to sign an agreement with its Argentine counterpart Enarsa. Indian private company Reliance is already part of a consortium that includes Argentine private firm Pluspetrol and has won a concession in Peru for oil and gas exploration.<br />India is also in talks to sign an agreement in civil nuclear energy with Argentina, but it is not known if it will be signed during Kirchner's visit.<br /><br /></p>
<p>The visit had been scheduled for earlier this year, but was postponed as Prime Manmohan Singh had to recuperate from his heart surgery.<br />The trip will mark 15 years since the last visit by a head of state of Argentina - then president Carlos Menem's trip to India in 1994. A reciprocal visit by former Indian prime minister P.V Narasimha Rao took place in 1994.<br /><br />Accompanied by the Argentine foreign minister and a business delegation, Kirchner will hold discussions with Singh Oct 14. A number of Indian leaders including Vice President Hamid Ansari, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani will be calling on her.<br />President Pratibha Patil will hold a state banquet in her honour Wednesday evening. Kirchner will leave for further engagements in Agra and Mumbai Thursday.<br />"A number of agreements for cooperation are expected to be signed during the visit and will cover wide-ranging areas such as sports, science and technology, industrial research, hydrocarbons, trade promotion and business visas," said a statement released by the ministry of external affairs.<br />Signifying a robust economic relationship, bilateral trade volume has increased by 87 percent in five years from $694 million in 2003 to $1.3 billion in 2008.<br /><br />Argentina has been a major source of agricultural products, especially edible oils like soya and sunflower oil. The balance of trade is in favour of Argentina, with imports at $836 million, being nearly double of exports from India at $492 million in 2008.<br />With India being a large scale importer of oilseeds and pulses, Argentina will continue to be a major source, especially due to its higher agricultural productivity, which is almost three times that of India.<br />Acquisition of large swathes of agricultural land has also been explored by some Indian groups, like Solvents Extractors Association of India and State Trading Corporation.<br />Indian companies have already made investments in information technology, pharmaceuticals, agro-chemicals and mining sectors in Argentina to the tune of $119 million.<br />On the energy front, ONGC Videsh is likely to sign an agreement with its Argentine counterpart Enarsa. Indian private company Reliance is already part of a consortium that includes Argentine private firm Pluspetrol and has won a concession in Peru for oil and gas exploration.<br />India is also in talks to sign an agreement in civil nuclear energy with Argentina, but it is not known if it will be signed during Kirchner's visit.<br /><br /></p>
