From decades of cooperation to a new geopolitical challenge: India’s response to Venezuela’s crisis after the U.S. raid
India and Venezuela share a long-standing, cordial relationship rooted in mutual respect, ideological convergence on key international, political, and economic questions, and a consistent commitment to South–South cooperation. Their engagement has steadily matured into a multifaceted partnership that operates bilaterally and through multilateral platforms, particularly the Non-Aligned Movement. In 2024, both countries commemorated sixty-five years of diplomatic relations, underscoring the durability of ties that have been supported by resident embassies in Caracas and New Delhi for more than four decades.
A decisive political momentum was injected into the relationship during the State Visit of former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to India in March 2005. His discussions with Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam led to the signing of six agreements and memoranda of understanding, including the establishment of a Joint Commission and structured cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector. This visit laid the foundation for energy-driven strategic engagement, which has remained central to bilateral ties.
High-level political dialogue has since been sustained with notable regularity. In October 2019, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza met External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar in Baku on the sidelines of preparatory meetings for the NAM Summit, while Vice President Shri Venkaiah Naidu held talks with President Nicolás Maduro during the summit itself. That same month, Executive Vice President Dr. Delcy Rodríguez visited India for the International Solar Alliance General Assembly, combining multilateral participation with bilateral discussions. Subsequent engagements continued at the United Nations General Assembly sessions in 2021 and 2022, where India’s External Affairs Minister met successive Venezuelan foreign ministers, reaffirming continuity in dialogue despite shifting global alignments.
Institutional mechanisms were further reinforced by the fourth round of Foreign Office Consultations held in Caracas in November 2022, co-chaired by India’s Secretary (East). Economic diplomacy gained prominence during Dr. Delcy Rodríguez’s August 2023 visit to India for the CII–LAC Conclave, accompanied by a ministerial and business delegation, during which she met India’s Vice President and key ministers overseeing finance, external affairs, and petroleum. Engagements intensified in 2024 and early 2025 through multiple meetings between External Affairs Minister Dr. Jaishankar and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil at NAM, BRICS-related dialogues, and the UNGA, alongside repeated visits by Dr. Rodríguez to Delhi, including her participation in India Energy Week. These visits culminated in tangible outcomes such as the February 2025 memorandum of understanding on sharing population-scale digital solutions for digital transformation.
Defence and strategic exchanges have also found space within the relationship, as reflected in the participation of senior Venezuelan defence officials in Aero India 2025. While not expansive, such interactions signal a willingness to diversify cooperation beyond traditional sectors.
Commercial and energy ties remain the backbone of the partnership. India exports a wide range of products to Venezuela, including mineral fuels, pharmaceuticals, cotton, machinery, electrical equipment, apparel, and chemical products, while importing primarily crude oil and related products, along with metals, agricultural produce, chemicals, and industrial inputs. Bilateral trade has shown volatility over the past five years, shaped by sanctions, market disruptions, and global energy fluctuations, peaking dramatically in 2019–20 before contracting and then partially recovering to over USD 1.17 billion in 2023–24.
Energy cooperation is particularly strategic. ONGC Videsh Limited holds a forty percent stake in Petrolera Indovenezolana SA, a joint venture with PDVSA’s subsidiary for oil exploration in the San Cristóbal field, representing an Indian investment of approximately USD 200 million. Indian public sector companies, alongside international partners, were also selected in 2008 to develop a major project in the Orinoco Belt. In parallel, Reliance Industries Limited maintains a long-term crude supply contract with PDVSA and, despite prevailing sanctions, secured a license from the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in July 2024 to import Venezuelan crude, highlighting the complex triangulation between commercial interests and geopolitical constraints.
Beyond economics, cultural and people-to-people ties provide a softer yet resilient dimension to the relationship. Indian spiritual and cultural traditions have found a receptive audience in Venezuela, with yoga centres, temples, and institutions linked to Indian spiritual movements well established. Ayurveda has gained official recognition as an alternative medical system, complemented by the establishment of an AYUSH Information Cell. Academic and intellectual exchanges are reflected in India Chairs at leading Venezuelan universities, Gandhian and Ambedkar study centres, community IT initiatives, and cultural institutions such as the Mahatma Gandhi Centre and the VIVA Centre.
Cultural diplomacy has been particularly vibrant in recent years, with regular celebrations of the International Day of Yoga, film festivals showcasing Indian cinema, Hindi Day events, folk art workshops, and joint commemorations blending environmental consciousness with Gandhian philosophy, such as the creation of the ‘Bosque Venezuela’ garden. India’s development partnership has also deepened through capacity-building initiatives under ITEC, ICCR scholarships, and, notably, the approval in February 2025 of a substantial India–UNDP grant for a community music education project with El Sistema, marking a first of its kind in Venezuela.
The Indian community in Venezuela remains small, numbering around fifty NRIs and thirty persons of Indian origin, yet it serves as a cultural bridge and an anchor for sustained engagement.
Against this carefully calibrated and patiently cultivated partnership, any unilateral and coercive action by external powers risks disturbing the diplomatic balance. The abduction of President Nicolás Maduro from the presidential palace would not remain an internal Venezuelan shock or a narrow US–Venezuela confrontation; its consequences would cascade across Venezuela’s external relationships. Oil exports would likely be directly affected, as American companies could move to dominate Venezuela’s energy sector following Maduro’s removal and his production before a New York court. For India, which has engaged Caracas through sustained dialogue, multilateral cooperation, and principled respect for sovereignty, such a development could complicate energy collaboration, unsettle commercial arrangements preserved despite sanctions, and introduce instability into a relationship long managed with strategic restraint. More broadly, it would undermine the norm of non-intervention that anchors India–Venezuela alignment within platforms such as the Non-Aligned Movement, potentially compelling recalibrations neither side has intended. In this context, the durability of India–Venezuela relations remains inseparable from adherence to international norms, without which even longstanding diplomatic equations can come under strain.
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