Brasilia: India and Brazil on Tuesday set a target of nearly doubling the bilateral trade to USD 20 billion in annual trade in the next five years and inked six agreements to expand cooperation in a range of sectors including energy and agriculture following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The two leaders also deliberated on combating terrorism with Modi saying both sides were clear that there is no place for double standards on terrorism.
“We have a similar thinking on the fight against terrorism — zero tolerance and zero double standards. We are clear that there is no place for double standards on terrorism,” the prime minister said in his media statement.
“We strongly oppose terrorism and those who support terrorism,” he added.
The two sides inked six agreements, including a pact on combating international terrorism and transnational organised crime and another on the exchange and mutual protection of classified information. They also signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on cooperation in renewable energy, sharing large-scale solutions for digital transformation, intellectual property, and agricultural research.
Modi travelled to Brasilia on Monday evening after attending the two-day BRICS summit in this seaside Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro.
“We want India-Brazil relations to be as colourful as carnival, as passionate as football, and as connecting hearts as samba, without long lines at the visa counter! In this spirit,” Modi said.
“We will make efforts to facilitate people-to-people contacts between the two countries, especially tourists, students, sportspersons and businessmen,” he said.
On various geopolitical developments, the prime minister said India-Brazil partnership is an important pillar of stability and balance and that both sides are unanimous that all disputes should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.
Modi said both sides discussed ways to enhance trade.
“In today’s discussions, we talked about strengthening cooperation in every field. We have set a target to take bilateral trade to USD 20 billion in the coming five years,” he said.
The current annual bilateral trade is around USD 13 billion.
“Our cooperation in the field of energy is constantly growing. Environment and clean energy are the main priorities of both the countries,” the prime minister said.
“The agreement that has been made today to increase cooperation in this area will give new direction and momentum to our green goals.
The prime minister said the growing India-Brazil cooperation in the field of defence is a symbol of “deep mutual trust” between the two sides.
“We will continue our efforts to connect our defence industries.”
Both sides are also working together on the adoption of UPI (Unified Payments Interface) in Brazil, he said.
“We will be happy to share India’s successful experience in areas like digital public infrastructure and space with Brazil.”
“Our cooperation in artificial intelligence and supercomputers is growing. This is a proof of our common thinking of inclusive development and human-centric innovation,” he said.
The prime minister said the two sides are also boosting cooperation in the area of agriculture.
“Now we will also work together on agricultural research and food processing. We are also increasing our win-win cooperation in the field of health. We emphasized on the expansion of Ayurveda and traditional medicine in Brazil,” he said.
Modi also referred to India-Brazil coordination at the global stage.
“As two large democratic countries, our cooperation is relevant not only for the Global South, but for the entire humanity.”
“We believe that it is our moral obligation to raise the concerns and priorities of the Global South at global forums,” he said.
“Today, when the world is going through a period of tension and uncertainty, my friend explained in great detail,” he added.
In a post on ‘X’, Modi described his talks with Lula as “fruitful” and that the Brazilian president has always been passionate about India-Brazil friendship.
“Our talks included ways to deepen trade ties and also diversify bilateral trade. We both agree that there is immense scope for such linkages to thrive in the coming times,” he said.
