Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi led a 10-member Parliamentary Goodwill Delegation to Uruguay from 14 to 17 June with the objective of strengthening and deepening bilateral relations between the two democratic nations, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs said on Saturday.

The multi-party delegation comprised nine Members of Parliament, six from Lok Sabha including Sanjay Seth, Gomati Sai, Hemant Patil, C N Annadurai, Gurumoorthy Maddila and Chandrani Murmu, as well as, three from the Rajya Sabha — Indu Bala Goswami, Dineshchandra Avavadiya and Neeraj Dangi.

The visit took place at the invitation of the President of House of Representatives (Lower House) of the Parliament of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay.

The visit began on 15 June with the Minister, accompanied by delegation members, paying floral tributes at the bust of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi in the capital city of Montevideo. In fact, a part of the iconic Rambla, the coastal road in the capital city, near the bust, is named after Mahatma Gandhi.

The delegation was received by Mr Sebastian Andujar, President of House of Representatives on 15 June. Besides holding delegation level talks where Members of both houses of Uruguayan Parliament also joined, Minister Joshi and Mr Andujar launched India–Uruguay Parliamentary Friendship Group in Uruguayan Parliament. The discussions focused on deepening of bilateral relations, particularly through parliamentary diplomacy.

Joshi invited Andujar to visit India with a parliamentary delegation which was accepted by the latter. It was agreed that a reciprocal visit of parliamentarians from Uruguay to India would take place before end of 2023, the dates of which would be finalized through diplomatic channels.

The Minister, accompanied by the delegation and Ambassador Bhatia also met the Vice President of Uruguay and President of the Senate (Upper House), Ms Beatriz Argimon, the first ever woman to have been elected in that position. She was also the Acting President of the Republic as President Luis Lacalle Pou was travelling out of the country in this period. Welcoming the delegation, she recalled her fruitful and memorable visit to India a few years back. She emphasised on the need to broaden the relations between two vibrant democracies.

The Minister and the delegation took the opportunity to interact with the Indian community and friends of India in Montevideo. There are over 800 Indians living in Uruguay. The last parliamentary delegation from India had visited Uruguay in 2012 led by the then Speaker, Lok Sabha.