Venezuela’s Acting President Delcy Rodríguez has expressed gratitude following her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, describing the discussions as productive and focused on expanding bilateral cooperation across several strategic sectors.
In a series of posts on social media platform X, Rodríguez thanked Prime Minister Modi for the warm reception and highlighted the wide-ranging agenda discussed during the high-level meeting. According to her, both sides explored opportunities for cooperation in transportation, healthcare, energy, agriculture, science and technology, while also examining new avenues for strategic partnerships that could benefit the people of both countries.
The meeting marks another significant step in strengthening India-Venezuela relations at a time when both nations are looking to deepen economic engagement and diversify areas of cooperation. The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing bilateral ties and working together to promote shared prosperity, particularly in the context of strengthening cooperation among countries of the Global South.
Energy cooperation emerged as one of the key focus areas during the discussions. Officials from both countries emphasized the strong complementarities between India and Venezuela in the energy sector. Venezuela, which possesses some of the world’s largest proven oil reserves, views India as a stable and long-term energy partner, while India continues to seek reliable and diversified sources of crude oil to strengthen its energy security. Discussions reportedly covered both upstream and downstream opportunities, including exploration, production, refining and energy infrastructure development.
Speaking after the meeting, Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (East) Rudrendra Tandon stated that there exists a “perfect complementarity” between the two nations in the energy sector. He noted that Venezuela has emerged as a major supplier of crude oil to India and that both countries are interested in expanding long-term cooperation beyond traditional energy trade.
Apart from energy, the discussions also focused on critical minerals and mining. Venezuelan officials highlighted the country’s rich reserves of minerals, including gold, diamonds and other strategic resources. Both sides explored possibilities for technical cooperation, resource assessment and future investments in the mining sector. These discussions are expected to form part of the follow-up agenda between the two governments.
Prime Minister Modi noted that Venezuela remains a valued partner for India in Latin America and emphasized the importance of closer cooperation in areas such as energy, critical minerals, technology, agriculture, health and people-to-people exchanges. He underlined that stronger India-Venezuela ties would contribute positively to the broader objectives of the Global South and foster mutual economic growth.
The visit is also significant because it comes amid growing global concerns regarding energy supply chains and geopolitical uncertainties affecting international oil markets. Venezuela has recently emerged as one of India’s leading crude oil suppliers, reflecting the increasing importance of bilateral energy ties.
Delcy Rodríguez is currently on a five-day official visit to India, accompanied by a high-level delegation that includes ministers responsible for foreign affairs, economy and finance, transportation, science and technology, and communication. The visit is expected to result in further discussions aimed at expanding cooperation in trade, investment, healthcare, renewable energy, infrastructure and technological innovation.
The engagement between the two leaders reflects the growing strategic importance of India-Venezuela relations and signals a renewed effort to build long-term partnerships across multiple sectors. With energy security, resource cooperation, technology exchange and economic collaboration high on the agenda, both nations appear committed to taking their bilateral relationship to a new level in the years ahead.
