Come together to generate prosperity, meet challenges, says Narendra Modi

"I am pleased, that India has deputed experts, to countries in the South American region in the fields of agriculture, horticulture, disaster management, communications and law. We are also working together in renewable energy," he said.

Modi also offered to expand cooperation in areas like tele-medicine, tele-education and e-governance. "We extend our space capabilities for weather forecasting, resource mapping and disaster management," he said.

Citing popularity in India of authors and poets from South America like Octavio Paz, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Pablo Neruda, he said that both India and South America share a deep bond.

"Similarly, our national poet, Rabindranath Tagore, is widely loved here. South America is also home to a large number of Indians, many of whom came centuries ago. Generations later, they remain a strong bridge of friendship, between our nations," the prime minister said.

South America is emerging as a contributor to India's energy and food security. The countries of region have been supplying over two billion dollars worth of minerals every year to India. Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia have been supplying crude oil.

India has been importing more than a billion dollars worth of soy and sunflower oil from Brazil and Argentina annually.

In the last two decades, the South American leaders have been pursuing a more autonomous foreign policy with strong belief in a multi-polar world and multi-lateralism.