The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, and the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, agreed to strengthen their bilateral relations during a meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, the first between the two dignitaries.
Modi and Lula, who participated as guests at the Group of Seven (G7) Summit that ended this Sunday in the Japanese city, discussed the strategic partnership between the two countries.
They also examined ways to strengthen it, mainly in defense production, trade, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, dairy, and livestock, as well as biofuels and clean energy.
Modi said in the meeting with Lula that India and Brazil are not “neutral countries” in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine but countries interested in maintaining world peace.
The Indian prime minister also spoke about his interest in working with Brazil to seek a peaceful solution to the conflict.
After the meeting, Lula tweeted, “We are on the side of peace.”
Unlike the G7 member countries, India and Brazil are neutral and do not endorse sanctions against Russia.
Trade between the two countries was also a topic of the meeting.
“Countries of major importance for the design of a new global geopolitics,” said Lula.
India is Brazil’s fifth-largest trading partner.
In 2021, trade between the two countries reached a historical result: US$15.1 billion.
That same year, Brazil exported more than six billion dollars to India and imported US$8.8 billion in Indian products.
Lula, who has already returned to Brazil, was a guest at the G7 meeting.
This group brings together the world’s leading economies: the United States, Germany, Japan, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Canada.
With information from TelesurTV
News Brazil, English news Brazil, G7 2023 Summit