Laura Gamba
08 July 2025•Update: 08 July 2025
BOGOTA, Colombia
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva received Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Brasilia on Tuesday, after both leaders attended the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro.
Modi was greeted with a grand welcome ceremony at the Alvorada Palace in Brasília, featuring a distinctive 114-horse parade.
Lula and Modi discussed strategies to accelerate relations, encompassing trade, investment, infrastructure development, defense, security and cooperation in health, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy, space, and food.
The leaders identified new avenues for collaboration in critical minerals, emerging technologies and artificial intelligence.
The extensive discussions culminated in the signing of several agreements to bolster cooperation across various fields.
"Held fruitful talks with President Lula, who has always been passionate about India-Brazil friendship," Modi wrote on X. "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."
Lula and Modi agreed to initiate studies to expand India's preferential tariff agreement with the South American trade alliance, Mercosur. Brazil holds the six-month presidency of the trade bloc, which includes Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, with Bolivia in the process of joining. The existing trade agreement with India, established in 2004, has not been updated since its inception.
"We have agreed to work on expanding the agreement between Mercosur and India," said Modi, emphasizing the need to give "new impetus" to a trade relationship that "is far from reaching its full potential."
Despite both nations being members of the BRICS group of emerging economies, India ranks low among Brazil's trading partners. The current trade volume between is significantly less than Brazil's with partners like China, the US, Argentina and Germany.
The Brazilian president acknowledged that trade with India "could be much higher" than the $12 billion recorded in 2024.
With US President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs disrupting global trade, Lula has been actively working for months to strengthen commercial ties with markets beyond Brazil's traditional partners. Lula specifically condemned Trump's recent threats to impose an additional 10% tariff on countries that engage in trade with the BRICS bloc.
Brazil is actively seeking to diversify its exports to India, which are currently dominated by commodities like sugar and crude oil.
Earlier this year, Brazilian Embraer SA, the world's third-largest aircraft manufacturer, established a subsidiary in New Delhi to expand its presence in India's defense and aviation sectors.
Modi was conferred with Brazil's highest civilian award, the Grand Collar of the National Order of the Southern Cross, on Tuesday.
Lula presented the honor in recognition of Modi's significant contributions to strengthening relations and enhancing India-Brazil cooperation.
