PM Narendra Modi to meet South American leaders

Brasilia, July 16: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet a group of South American leaders to foster cooperation between the two regions.

This is perhaps the first time that an Indian prime minister is getting an opportunity to meet and speak to a group of South American leaders together.

South America is emerging as a contributor to India's energy and food security. The countries of region have been supplying over two billion dollars worth of minerals every year to India. Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia have been supplying crude oil.

India has been importing more than a billion dollars worth of soy and sunflower oil from Brazil and Argentina annually.

Modi along with leaders of Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa will hold talks with counterparts from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and other Latin American nations in the Brazilian capital.

"We reaffirm our support for the South American integration processes, and recognize in particular the importance of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in promoting peace and democracy in the region, and in achieving sustainable development and poverty eradication," the BRICS leaders said in Fortaleza Declaration after their summit.

"We believe that strengthened dialogue among BRICS and South American countries can play an active role in enhancing multilateralism and international cooperation, for the promotion of peace, security, economic and social progress and sustainable development in an interdependent and increasingly complex, globalizing world."

In the last two decades, the South American leaders have been pursuing a more autonomous foreign policy with strong belief in a multi-polar world and multi-lateralism.

IANS