India-Brazil Jt. Com. meeting on April 13

New Delhi, Apr 11 (UNI) The India-Brazil Joint Commission will meet here on Friday to review bilateral cooperation in various fields and international fora like G-4, India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Forum and WTO issues.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim who begins a three-day visit to India from today, will co-Chair the Third Meeting of the Indo-Brazilian Joint Commission meeting along with Minister of State for External Affairs, Anand Sharma.

He will also call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and have meetings with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath.

''The Joint Commission will review cooperation in various sectors such as agriculture, science and technology, Defence, energy, health, tourism, culture and infrastructure,'' an External Affairs Ministry spokesman said today.

This is the third meeting of the Joint Commission. The last meeting was held in Brasilia in February, 2006.

The Brazilian Minister is accompanied by a large business and official delegations.

Brazil is the largest trading partner of India in Latin America.

In 2006, India's exports were 1.47 billion dollars and imports 937 million US dollars. Indian companies have started investment and joint ventures in Brazil in IT, pharmaceuticals, energy, agri-business and mining sectors.

ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL) has acquired an offshore oil bloc for 420 million dollars.

Brazilian companies are also pursuing opportunities in India in areas such as petroleum, mining, automobiles and aviation.

India and Brazil, alongwith South Africa, are partners in IBSA.

The two countries also work closely in G-4 for UN Security Council reforms and in G-20 on WTO issues.

The two countries will also have discussions on the Doha Round G-4 Meeting including India-Brazil-EU and the US and the Doha Round G-6 Meeting comprising India-Brazil-EU-US-Japan and Australia.

UNI