Address by Minister Mauro Vieira at the 9th Brazil-India Joint Commission Meeting - New Delhi, August 27, 2024

It is a pleasure to be in India again and an honor to co-chair, alongside Minister of External Affairs, Dr. Jaishankar, the 9th Meeting of the Brazil-India Joint Commission.

Brazil and India, as vibrant, multi-ethnic democracies from the developing world, represent a positive drive to international affairs. Both our governments work towards achieving sustainable development and prosperity for our societies. We hold common views on many pressing issues of the global agenda. We both advocate for a reformed United Nations, in particular for a more representative, effective and legitimate UN Security Council. We are also close partners in international arrangemets such as IBSA, BRICS, G20, G4, and BASIC.

As chair of the G20 this year, Brazil built on the successful Indian chairmanship, which opened up an opportunity for the Global South not only to be heard but also to proactively contribute to setting the world economic agenda for the years to come. President Lula will be glad to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro in November.

Brazil and India’s strategic partnership has promoted a fast-growing cooperation in many sectors. Over the last few years, there has been a significant expansion in our bilateral agenda, incorporating promising areas such as digital governance, bioenergy, agriculture, and defense, to name only a few.

Despite the challenges posed by the current international scenario, our trade flow has been steadily growing, having reached USD 12 billion in 2023, a result that makes India one of Brazil’s main trading partners, although far from reaching its full potential. There are opportunities to diversify our trade and increase the technological content of our exchanges, as well as to enhance the flow of bilateral investments. The India-Brazil Business Forum announced by our leaders last year will certainly create new opportunities for business and growth.

I had the opportunity to engage yesterday with an important group of Indian business people representing some of the major Indian companies, in a roundtable discussion with Brazilian private sector representatives. I would like to express my gratitude to all of them for the productive exchanges we had.

Throughout its nine editions, the Brazil-India Joint Commission has been instrumental in bringing our countries closer, as well as contributing to the diversification and strengthening of our relations. I look forward to our discussions today, in which we will assess progress of bilateral initiatives and agree on new priority areas, with a view of achieving even better results in the near future.