Brazil's President arrives on three-day visit

New Delhi, June 3: Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrived here on a State visit at the head of a delegation of over hundred CEOs, Ministers and officials.

Mr Silva, whose visit is expected to strengthen trade and political ties between the two countries, will have a hectic day tomorrow, meeting President A P J Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Indian industrialists.

He will hold one-on-one and delegation level talks with Dr Singh following which the two countries will sign a number of agreements, including on trade and tourism.

UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha L K Advani and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will be among those who will call on him.

India attaches great significance to the visit as the two countries work closely in multilateral fora, including UN, WTO and G-20. India and Brazil are working together in the G-4 Group seeking permanent membership of UN Security Council.

India and Brazil along with South Africa cooperate in the trilateral IBSA partnership.

Mr Silva had visited India earlier in January, 2004 and as the Chief Guest for the Republic Day celebrations.

He will discuss with Dr Singh the newly formed India-Brazil CEO Forum. The co-chairmen of the Forum are Mr Ratan Tata and Mr Jose Sergio Gabrielli, CEO of Petrobras.

President Lula will also address the Indian captains of business and industry in a function jointly being organised by CII, FICCI and Assocham.

Following Dr Singh's visit to Brazil in September, 2006, the bilateral relations have been upgraded to a 'strategic partnership'.

As part of this, a strategic dialogue was held in India on 12 April, 2007 between National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and Minister of External Relations Celso Amorim.

The third meeting of the Indo-Brazilian Joint Commission, held in New Delhi and co-chaired by External Affairs Minister and the Brazilian Foreign Minister, has covered cooperation in a number of areas such as agriculture, science&technology, trade and investment, energy, education, defence, space, nuclear energy, health, culture and sports.

It has been agreed that a Festival of Brazil will be organised in India in January-March, 2008 and a Festival of India will be held in Brazil in July-September, 2008.

The trade between the two countries has been increasing significantly in recent years. In 2006, India's exports to Brazil were 1470 million dollars and imports 937 million dollars. A number of Indian companies have made investment and joint ventures in Brazil in areas such as pharmaceuticals, IT and energy. The Brazilian companies have also started targeting India for investment and business in areas such as infrastructure, food processing and energy.

UNI

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