Diplomatic briefing
Embassy of India
EmbassyLaos · Ambassador: Shri Yogeshwar Sangwan
11 figures · 2 sources · built 1 hour ago
In short
India’s embassy in Laos records bilateral trade of $112.6m, a reported community of 722, 14 agreements on record and a UN voting alignment with India of 73%. Led by Shri Yogeshwar Sangwan, ambassador.
Total bilateral trade
$112.6m
US dollars · as stated in the brief
Source· retrieved 1 hour ago
Bilateral Brief — Laos
Source: Ministry of External Affairs, India
Where: “V. ECONOMIC & COMMERCIAL” section
“Indian exports to Lao PDR Indian imports from Lao PDR TOTAL TRADE 2019-20 25.08 3.09 28.17 2020-21 27.34 1.70 29.04 2021-22 14.65 0.80 15.45 2022-23 16.98 74.30 91.28 2023-24 12.88 99.73 112.62 Balance of Trade 21.99 25.64 13.85 (-) 57.32 (-) 99.74 Source: Department of Commerce, Government of India. (Figures in US $ million)”
Published: undated · Read: 8 October 2026
Read from the briefing by a language model. The quoted sentence was verified by string matching against the extracted PDF text before this figure was accepted.
Overseas Indians
Medium confidence722
persons · as of Jan 2026
Source· retrieved 1 day ago
Population of Overseas Indians
Source: Ministry of External Affairs, India
Where: row "Laos"
“PIOs 122 + NRIs 600 = 722”
Published: undated · Read: 7 October 2026
MEA publishes no methodology for these estimates and told a Parliamentary committee it holds "no authentic data". The page also repeats some countries from an older vintage with the PIO/NRI columns swapped; the first occurrence is used here. This country appears 2× on the page.
Agreements on record
Medium confidence14
agreements · 1950–present
Source· retrieved 1 hour ago
Indian Treaties Database — filtered by country
Source: Ministry of External Affairs, India
Where: search-result-item count, sorted newest first (newest: 30 May 2007)
“MOU BETWEEN INDIA AND LAOS FOR THE CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION OF THE UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE AT WAT PHOU — 30 May 2007”
Published: 30 May 2007 · Read: 8 October 2026
MEA states it cannot vouch for the accuracy or completeness of this database. It carries no status field, so "in force" cannot be derived from it — only that an agreement is on record.
UN votes matching India’s
73%
share of UNGA votes matching India’s · UNGA session 78
Source· retrieved 12 hours ago
United Nations General Assembly Voting Data — Ideal Point Estimates
Source: Bailey, Strezhnev & Voeten — Harvard Dataverse
Where: row “Laos”, session 78, IndiaAgree over 86 votes
Published: undated · Read: 8 October 2026
UN General Assembly Voting Data (v39), non-commercial licence. The share is the dataset’s own IndiaAgree column — roll-call votes on which this country and India voted the same way, as the dataset defines agreement — not our calculation. Independent of MEA.
Where this is
Drag to pan, scroll to zoom, then click a country. The rail filter stays the precise control.
The relationship, in figures
Trade
Exports to LaosUS dollars · as stated in the brief$12.9m
Bilateral Brief — Laos
Source: Ministry of External Affairs, India
Where: “V. ECONOMIC & COMMERCIAL” section
“Indian exports to Lao PDR Indian imports from Lao PDR TOTAL TRADE 2019-20 25.08 3.09 28.17 2020-21 27.34 1.70 29.04 2021-22 14.65 0.80 15.45 2022-23 16.98 74.30 91.28 2023-24 12.88 99.73 112.62 Balance of Trade 21.99 25.64 13.85 (-) 57.32 (-) 99.74 Source: Department of Commerce, Government of India. (Figures in US $ million)”
Published: undated · Read: 8 October 2026
Read from the briefing by a language model. The quoted sentence was verified by string matching against the extracted PDF text before this figure was accepted.
Imports from LaosUS dollars · as stated in the brief$99.7m
Bilateral Brief — Laos
Source: Ministry of External Affairs, India
Where: “V. ECONOMIC & COMMERCIAL” section
“Indian exports to Lao PDR Indian imports from Lao PDR TOTAL TRADE 2019-20 25.08 3.09 28.17 2020-21 27.34 1.70 29.04 2021-22 14.65 0.80 15.45 2022-23 16.98 74.30 91.28 2023-24 12.88 99.73 112.62 Balance of Trade 21.99 25.64 13.85 (-) 57.32 (-) 99.74 Source: Department of Commerce, Government of India. (Figures in US $ million)”
Published: undated · Read: 8 October 2026
Read from the briefing by a language model. The quoted sentence was verified by string matching against the extracted PDF text before this figure was accepted.
Trade balance in India’s favourUS dollars · as stated in the brief · our calculation−$86.8m
Exports minus imports, as stated in the same briefing (in USD)
exports − imports
People
Indian community in Laospersons · as stated in the brief500
Bilateral Brief — Laos
Source: Ministry of External Affairs, India
Where: “IX. INDIAN COMMUNITY:” section
“About 500-strong Indian community is largely engaged in jewellery trade, the restaurant and hotel industry, manufacturing, garments, mining, plantations and agar wood.”
Published: undated · Read: 8 October 2026
Read from the briefing by a language model. The quoted sentence was verified by string matching against the extracted PDF text before this figure was accepted.
Diplomacy
Agreements the briefing enumeratesagreements · as stated in the brief20
Bilateral Brief — Laos
Source: Ministry of External Affairs, India
Where: “MoUs and Agreements” section
“MoUs and Agreements S. No. MoU/Agreement 1. India-Laos Cultural Agreement (17 August 1994) 2. Agreement for setting up of Joint Commission on Trade, Economic and Scientific and Technological Cooperation (02 May 1997) 3. Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation (09 November 2000) 4. Agreement on Cooperation in Defence (06 November, 2002) 5. Agreement on Mutual Cooperation on Drug Demand Reduction & Prevention of Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and related matters (06 November 2002) 6. MoU on setting up Entrepreneurship Development Centre at Vientiane (02 July 2004) 7. Agreement on Exemption of Visa Requirement for holders of Diplomatic and Official Passports (06 November 2002)(Effective from 01 April 2005) 8. MoU for the Conservation and Restoration of the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Wat Phou (30 May 2007) 9. MoU for Setting up Centre for English Language Training (12 June 2007) 10. MoU on the Establishment of Nalanda University (10 October 2013) 11. Agreement on setting up of a Sustainable IT Infrastructure for Advance IT Training (Centre for Excellence in Software Development & Training) (10 August 2015) 12. Agreement between India and Lao PDR regarding Indian Grant Assistance for implementation of Quick Impact Projects (QIPs) (18 September 2015) (Extended for another five years in October 2020) 13. Air Services Agreement between India and Lao PDR (16 Jan 2019 ) 14. MoU between the Foreign Service Institute and the Institute of Foreign Affairs, Lao PDR( 6 September 2019) 15. MoU for Cooperation in the field of sharing successful digital solutions implemented at population scale for Digital Transformation (27 July 2024) 16. MoU for Customs Cooperation Agreement between India and Lao PDR (11 October 2024) 17. MOU between Prasar Bharti and Lao National TV (11 October 2024) 18. MoU on Defence Cooperation (11 October 2024) 19. MoU on Recognition of Indian Pharmacopoeia (3rd June 2026) 20. MoU on Cultural Exchange Programme (3rd June 2026)”
Published: undated · Read: 8 October 2026
Read from the briefing by a language model. The quoted sentence was verified by string matching against the extracted PDF text before this figure was accepted.
Most recent high-level visityear of the visit · as stated in the brief2026
Bilateral Brief — Laos
Source: Ministry of External Affairs, India
Where: “High level visits:” section
“Shri Salman Khurshid, EAM on Thongsavan Phomvihane, Deputy Prime September 8-10, 2013 for 7th JCM Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs paid an official visit to India from 1-3 June 2026, to co-chair the 10th Joint Commission Meeting between India and Lao PDR.”
Published: undated · Read: 8 October 2026
Read from the briefing by a language model. The quoted sentence was verified by string matching against the extracted PDF text before this figure was accepted.
Agreements on record (14)
MEA Treaties Database- AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE LAO PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC ON CO-OPERATION AND MUTUAL ASSISTANCE IN CUSTOMS MATTERSOther11 October 2024
- MOU BETWEEN THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA AND THE LAO PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC ON COOPERATIONDiplomatic Relations06 September 2019
- AIR SERVICES AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA AND THE REPUBLIC OF LAOSTransport16 January 2019
- AGREEMENT BETWEEN INDIA AND LAOS REGARDING INDIAN GRANT ASSISTANCE FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF QUICK IMPACT PROJECTS(QIP)Aid and Cooperation18 September 2015
- MOU ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF NALANDA UNIVERSITY BETWEEN INDIA AND LAOEducation10 October 2013
- MOU BETWEEN INDIA AND LAOS FOR SETTING UP CENTER FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRAINING AT VIENTIANE,LAO PDREducation12 June 2007
- MOU BETWEEN INDIA AND LAO FOR SETTING UP CENTRE FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRAINING AT LAOEducation12 June 2007
- MOU BETWEEN INDIA AND LAOS FOR THE CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION OF THE UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE AT WAT PHOUCultural Relations and Sport30 May 2007
- AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE LAO PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC ON EXEMPTION OF VISA REQUIREMENT FOR HOLDERS OF DIPLOMATIC AND OFFICIAL PASSPORTSDiplomatic Relations06 November 2002
- AGREEMENT ON MUTUAL CO-OPERATION BETWEEN INDIA AND LAOS ON DRUG DEMAND REDUCTION AND PREVENTION OF ILLICIT TRAFFICKING IN NARCOTICS DRUGSCivil and Criminal Matters06 November 2002
- AGREEMENT BETWEEN INDIA AND LAO FOR THE PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF INVESTMENTSBusiness and Trade09 November 2000
- AGREEMENT BETWEEN INDIA AND LAO PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC FOR PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF INVESTMENTSBusiness and Trade09 November 2000
- MOU BETWEEN INDIA AND LAO ON COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF AGRICULTURE AND ALLIED SECTORSAid and Cooperation02 May 1997
- MOU ON ECONOMIC AND TECHNICAL CO-OPERATION BETWEEN INDIA AND LAOSAid and Cooperation17 August 1994
The briefing
MEA publishes a bilateral brief — 72 sections, 24,228 characters of extractable text. Sections include: INDIA-LAO PDR BILATERAL RELATIONS · I. INTRODUCTION · II. POLITICAL · Visits from India · President: · Visits from Lao PDR.
Open the briefing (PDF)Where the sources disagree
Two public sources disagree on the size of the Indian community — 44% apart
- Overseas Indians722
- Indian community in Laos500
Both are published by the Ministry of External Affairs, with no stated methodology. Neither is averaged away or preferred — the disagreement is the honest answer.