Why Strengthening Economic Relations is Essential for India-Brazil Partnership?

Brasilia, July 9 (NationPress) Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met with visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday to discuss a variety of issues, emphasizing that the enhancement of the partnership between India and Brazil is closely tied to the fortification of economic relations between both nations.

In a post on X, the Brazilian President stated: "The deepening of our partnership also depends on strengthening economic relations. Our trade flow of $12 billion is not reflective of the scale of our economies. When I visited India twenty years ago, our target was to achieve $15 billion. We are committed to accelerating this goal and tripling it in the near future."

He noted that following the G20 summit in New Delhi in September 2023, "over 70 Brazilian trade and investment missions have visited India. In the same timeframe, we welcomed 40 Indian technical delegations here."

"I expressed my gratitude to Prime Minister Modi for recently opening the Indian market to Brazilian chicken and cotton. The expansion of the MERCOSUR-India agreement could facilitate the reduction of tariff and non-tariff barriers that currently impede our trade. At present, only 14 percent of Brazilian exports to India are included in this agreement," President Lula added.

During a joint press conference, Prime Minister Modi remarked that in their discussions, "we concurred on the need to bolster cooperation across all sectors. We have set an ambitious target to escalate bilateral trade to $20 billion within the next five years."

"Football is Brazil’s passion, just as cricket is cherished in India. Whether it's sending the ball past the boundary or into the goal, when both are united, achieving a $20 billion partnership becomes feasible. Together, we will also work on enhancing the India-MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA)," PM Modi stated.

The Prime Minister further noted that "our collaboration in the energy sector is continually progressing."

On Tuesday, both leaders agreed to enhance cooperation between India and Brazil across all domains. PM Modi referred to President Lula as the 'Chief Architect of the Strategic Partnership between India and Brazil', highlighting his significant contributions to "deepening our relations."

"I had productive discussions with President Lula, who is deeply passionate about the India-Brazil friendship. Our dialogue included strategies to strengthen trade ties and diversify bilateral trade. We both recognize the vast potential for such connections to flourish in the future," PM Modi shared on X, also posting images from his meeting with President Lula.

"Topics such as clean energy, sustainable development, and combating climate change were also important aspects of our discussions. We will collaborate even more closely in areas such as defence, security, AI, and agriculture. Our joint efforts in space, semiconductors, and DPI will greatly benefit our citizens," PM Modi added.

Previously, PM Modi received a warm welcome from President Lula da Silva at the Alvorada Palace in Brasilia as he commenced a State Visit after attending the BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

President Lula expressed on X: "It was a great pleasure to welcome Prime Minister Modi. Two remarkable nations like India and Brazil cannot remain distant. The strength of our democracies, the diversity of our cultures, and the vigor of our economies unite us.

As members of the G20 and BRICS, we advocate for multilateralism and more inclusive global governance. It is unacceptable that countries of such stature as India and Brazil do not hold permanent seats on the UN Security Council. We are natural allies in tackling two of the greatest challenges of our time: eliminating hunger and poverty and combating climate change. I thanked Prime Minister Modi for India's involvement in the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty.