Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s arrival in Buenos Aires has brought back memories of a deeper India-Argentina bond—one that dates back to Rabindranath Tagore’s 1924 visit and Indira Gandhi’s meeting with literary icon Victoria Ocampo in 1968—far beyond the more familiar Argentine names of Maradona and Messi, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on Friday.

“The Super Premium Frequent Flier is in Argentina today. 3 down, 2 more to go,” Ramesh wrote on X, referencing Modi’s ongoing international tour. “To Indians, Argentina instantly means Diego Armando Maradona and Lionel Messi. But there are three deeper connects as well.”

Ramesh went on to recount three major historical links—literary, philosophical, and economic—that have bound India and Argentina across decades.

He recalled Rabindranath Tagore’s 1924 visit to Argentina, hosted by prominent literary figure Victoria Ocampo. “Tagore's works were already very well known. He and Ocampo developed a warm friendship which has been written about extensively by Tagore's biographers, with Ketaki Kushari Dyson having devoted an entire book to it,” Ramesh said.

Tagore’s collection of 52 lyrical poems, Purabi, published exactly a century ago, was dedicated to Ocampo, whom he referred to as ‘Vijaya’. The cultural exchange continued decades later when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visited Buenos Aires in 1968 and met Ocampo.

“In September 1968, Indira Gandhi met Ocampo in Buenos Aires and conferred on her the honorary degree of Doctor of Literature of Tagore's Visva-Bharati University, in which she had herself spent nine months beginning July 1934,” Ramesh noted.

Ramesh also touched upon the influence of Buddhism on celebrated Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges, who, at the age of seven, had read The Light of Asia by Sir Edwin Arnold.

“That led him to read and explore the life of the Buddha even more. The impact of the Buddha is reflected in Borges’s short stories, essays, poems, and lectures,” he said. “Ten years before his death in 1986, Borges’s book Que es el budismo (What is Buddhism), reflecting a lifetime of fascination with the Buddha, was published.”

Ramesh also referenced Borges’s well-known lecture on Buddhism, delivered on July 6, 1977, in Buenos Aires—now preserved on YouTube.

The Congress MP shifted focus to Argentine economist Raul Prebisch, whom he described as a key figure in shaping global economic institutions during the 1950s and 1960s.

“He helped establish the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, an organisation that earned its place in world economic history as UNCTAD. Dr. Manmohan Singh had worked in UNCTAD in New York during Jan 1966–May 1969 and there is a lovely picture of him with his two daughters during this time,” Ramesh said.

He further noted, “UNCTAD's second session had been held in New Delhi during Jan–March 1968—the first time a developing country was hosting a major UN event.”

UNCTAD also propagated the idea of the G77, a coalition of developing countries that remains active in global policy forums. “The collective now has 133 developing countries. China does not consider itself as a formal member and so the collective is called G77 plus China,” he added.

“Global South is another term now very much in use by Mr. Modi and the External Affairs Minister—this term too was propagated by UNCTAD, although it was first used by a British banker Oliver Franks way back in 1960,” Ramesh pointed out.

In a follow-up post, Ramesh also shared two images: one of Indira Gandhi with Ocampo in Buenos Aires, and another of a young Manmohan Singh with his daughters during his UNCTAD tenure. He added, “Argentina issued these in honour of PM Indira Gandhi in 1986.”

Prime Minister Modi, who was welcomed at the Ezeiza International Airport with a ceremonial reception, is making the first Indian bilateral visit at the prime ministerial level to Argentina in 57 years. Following Argentina, Modi is scheduled to attend the 17th BRICS Summit in Brazil, before concluding his multi-nation tour with a state visit to Namibia.