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Bogota Became a Meeting Point Between India and Colombia This Week
Two events in Bogotá reflect that the relationship between India and Colombia is beginning to move strongly toward technology, innovation and business
  • Carolina Gaviria Salazar
    journalist and communication strategist
This week, Bogotá had two different settings for talking about India. The first was at Corferias, amid machines, industrial equipment, business solutions and hundreds of visitors to the Bogotá International Industrial Fair. The second, a few kilometers away, was at the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce, where businesspeople and representatives of the technology ecosystems of both countries talked about artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, automation, Big Data and knowledge transfer.

On the surface, they were two different events, but at bottom they were talking about the same thing: India and Colombia are looking for ways to do more together.

At Corferias, there was a signal that was hard to miss: a pavilion dedicated exclusively to Indian companies. The delegation, led by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, brought together 25 companies from sectors as diverse as infrastructure, food, automotive, energy, mining, services and technology. The Indian Embassy itself explained that the goal was to connect these companies directly with Colombian companies and open up trade and technology-transfer opportunities.

FIB 2026 brought together more than 500 exhibitors from 16 countries and centered much of its agenda on automation, robotics, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and digital transformation. In other words, India arrived at an industrial fair that is precisely discussing where industry is heading.

But perhaps the most revealing scene took place on Thursday at the Chamber of Commerce. During one of the conversations, a Colombian who works for Zoho, an Indian technology company, told an anecdote that drew some laughs from the audience.

He said he was once presenting the company’s portfolio and, when he explained that these were services developed in India, someone replied: “What do you mean? India makes technology?”

The question may seem naive. But it is also a small snapshot of how we still view India. Because many Colombians probably associate the country with Bollywood films, spices, yoga, automobiles, medicines or textiles.

But not necessarily with enterprise software, artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure or technology solutions used by companies around the world.

And there, perhaps, lies one of the most interesting changes in this relationship.

India is no longer coming to Colombia only to sell products. It is also arriving with knowledge, technology, companies and models that can be used, adapted or developed jointly.

Zoho’s presence is not new. The Indian Embassy itself includes the company among the Indian firms in the technology and IT services sector with a presence in Colombia, alongside names such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro and Tech Mahindra.

In fact, Zoho has been expanding its presence in the country. In 2025, Forbes Colombia reported that ManageEngine, its IT arm, was using a hub in Chía as a platform for its operations in Latin America and Iberia. That is why the Chamber of Commerce conversation made sense.

The October 1 meeting, organized by the Indian Embassy, the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce and the Colombia-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry, sought precisely to identify opportunities for strategic alliances, technology transfer, innovation and capacity building. And it was not just about talking about technology for the sake of talking.

There is a concrete precedent: in 2024, India and Colombia signed an agreement to share digital solutions developed at population scale, including India Stack experiences, training, exchange of experts and possible pilot projects.

What can we learn from each other?

India has a technical cooperation program, ITEC, with which Colombia has worked since 2002. By 2026, 658 Colombians had participated in its training programs. The offering includes areas such as information technology, artificial intelligence, telecommunications, public administration, health, agriculture and sustainable development.

In other words, the relationship is also being built between people: among engineers, businesspeople, researchers, public officials, students, entrepreneurs… And that can be as important as a trade negotiation.

Researcher Prakreeti Chaudhary of the Observer Research Foundation has raised precisely this point in analyzing the relationship between India and Latin America: “In transitions toward artificial intelligence and the green economy, capacities and skills will be decisive; incorporating technology without developing knowledge can end up creating new dependencies.”

This is relevant for Colombia, because the discussion should not be only about how much software, machinery or services we can buy from India. It should also be about how much we can learn, adapt, develop and create together.

That helps explain why this week there was a pavilion of 25 Indian companies at Corferias and, almost at the same time, a conversation about artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, automation and Big Data at the Chamber of Commerce.
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