India and Brazil on Saturday set an annual bilateral trade target of $30 billion in the next five years and signed a pact for cooperation in the area of critical minerals following wide-ranging talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The two leaders also vowed to shore up ties in a range of other sectors, including defence, energy, healthcare and digital public infrastructure, while emphasising a deeper India-Brazil strategic engagement to navigate the fragmented geopolitical environment.
Modi said India and Brazil are unanimous that terrorism and its supporters are ‘enemies’ of humanity even as he noted that both sides agreed that reform of global institutions is essential to address the challenges facing the world.
President Lula is in India on a five-day visit from February 18, primarily to attend the India AI Impact Summit and hold talks with Modi.
“Brazil is India’s largest trading partner in Latin America. We are committed to taking the bilateral trade beyond $30 billion in the next five years. Our trade is not just a figure, it is a reflection of trust,” Modi said in his media statement in the presence of the Brazilian leader.
In 2024-25, the India-Brazil trade volume reached $12 billion, with Indian exports amounting to $6.77 billion and imports from Brazil totalling $5.43 billion.
The PM said the agreement on critical minerals and rare earth is a major step towards building resilient supply chains.
Besides the pact on critical minerals, India and Brazil also firmed up a joint declaration on digital partnership and signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) for cooperation in the areas of mining, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), healthcare and traditional knowledge system.
“Our cooperation in the field of defence is also continuously growing. This is a great example of mutual trust and strategic coordination. We will continue to strengthen this win-win partnership,” Modi said.
The PM noted that the voice of the Global South becomes stronger and more confident when India and Brazil work together. “The India-Brazil partnership on the global stage has been strong and influential. As democratic countries, we will continue to advance the priorities and aspirations of the Global South,” he said.
“We believe that every problem must be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy. India and Brazil are unanimous that terrorism and its supporters are enemies of all humanity,” Modi added.
India and Brazil that were facing the highest additional tariffs of 50% in the US market on Saturday discussed the American trade policy and the implications of the US Supreme Court judgement that struck down country-specific tariffs.
The issue came up during the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in New Delhi, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs P Kumaran said at a press conference. The Brazilian president is on a state visit to India between February 18-22.
What did P Kumaran say?
“Yes, there was a discussion on the US trade policy and the implications of the US Supreme Court judgment. Both leaders agreed that it is a rather new development and that both sides need to study the implications of this and wait for further developments by the US administration,” he added.
“So we will essentially be in a wait-and-watch mode to see how the administration responds to this judgment and whether any further steps are taken and to study the implications for our trade,” Kumaran added.
Tariff math
While India has 50% tariffs – 25% reciprocal and 25% for buying Russian oil, Brazil faced 10% reciprocal tariffs and another 40% stemming from political issues. After the US Supreme Court judgment, the US has imposed 10% uniform additional tariffs for all its trade partners.
Kumaran also said that there was no discussion on BRICS currency but there is an interest in trying to have some trade on the basis of local currency settlement.
In his remarks, Lula slammed terror attacks in Kashmir and said terrorism must not be linked to any religion or nationality. The president said the “turbulent global environment” requires India and Brazil to deepen their strategic ties and that dialogue between the two powers is an engagement of “superlatives”.
“We are not just the two biggest democracies of the Global South. This is a meeting of a digital superpower with a renewable-energy superpower. We are both mega-diverse countries and we both defend multilateralism and peace,” he said.
The Brazilian leader argued that there is no possibility of fair and sustainable development in a conflict-ridden world and quoted Modi’s remarks at last year’s BRICS Summit that one cannot run “21st-century software on 20th-century typewriters”.
“We emphasised our commitment to the UN reform, particularly of the UN Security Council, so that it represents the interests of the Global South. Brazil and India are natural candidates to become permanent members of the Security Council,” he said.
Modi also made a mention of the India-Mercosur trade agreement and said it will further strengthen the economic ties between the two countries.
In the talks, Brazil also proposed to co-chair the India-backed Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).