Brasilia: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva seeks to forge a “strategic alliance” with India with an intention to strengthen political, financial and technological ties between the 2 nations. The announcement got here in a video message posted on X on Saturday, following the latest go to of Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin to New Delhi.
Lula described Alckmin’s go to as a vital step in making ready for his personal state go to to India early subsequent yr. He highlighted India’s distinctive market potential and the prospects of a multi-dimensional partnership. He stated the engagement may span politics, area, entrepreneurship and economics.
He expressed confidence within the heat relations between the 2 nations, including that each Brazilians and Indians maintain one another in excessive regard. “Due to this fact, we are going to create a strategic alliance with India and develop each Brazilian and Indian economies,” he stated.
The president highlighted that Alckmin’s go to was focussed on strengthening enterprise relations and increasing the footprint of Brazilian firms in India.
He praised the vice chairman for returning with solely excellent news, citing concrete developments such because the opening of a Brazilian aerospace firm, Embraer, in India, the implementation of an digital visa to facilitate enterprise journey and the formation of recent partnerships.
Alckmin too emphasised that India and Brazil are complementary markets relatively than rivals. Answering questions on the potential of each nations as alternate options amid excessive US tariffs, he stated, “We aren’t going to compete on product, we’re going to have financial complementarity.”
He highlighted the expansion potential on either side, stating that India’s economic system is increasing at round seven % whereas Brazil is experiencing a document 16 % agricultural harvest this yr. “There’s a whole lot of risk for complementarity: in expertise, trade, mining and agriculture,” he added.
Lula’s announcement comes in opposition to a backdrop of accelerating US commerce limitations. In August, American President Donald Trump imposed tariffs of as much as 50 % on varied Brazilian items, whereas India faces related US tariffs reaching 50 % on most exports. Regardless of these challenges, financial engagement between India and Brazil continues to develop.
Throughout Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s go to to Brazil in July, each leaders focused elevating bilateral commerce to USD 20 billion inside 5 years. In fiscal yr 2024-25, merchandise commerce between the 2 nations reached USD 12.19 billion, making Brazil India’s largest buying and selling accomplice in Latin America and the Caribbean, in response to the Ministry of Commerce and Trade.
The strategic alliance envisioned by Lula guarantees a transformative partnership, bringing collectively two of the world’s largest democracies, spanning continents and poised to strengthen commerce, funding and technological collaboration in a quickly altering international economic system.