Dinesh Bhatia, India’s Ambassador to Brazil, said that Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the South American nation has significantly improved bilateral ties between the two countries, which are both crucial parts of the Global South.
PM Modi held large-scale discussions with the Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday, while he was on an official visit to Brazil.
Both leaders agreed to strengthen the cooperation across several domains, ranging from defence, trade, energy, agriculture, digital technology, and people-to-people engagement.
PM Modi appreciated President Lula, calling him the “Chief Architect of the Strategic Partnership between India and Brazil.”
He praised the Brazilian leader for playing a key role in strengthening the ties between the two nations.
Speaking to IANS, Ambassador Bhatia underscored the importance of this visit, stating, “This is the first state visit by the Indian Prime Minister to Brazil in 57 years. There were very meaningful discussions between Prime Minister Modi and President Lula. Both leaders shared great chemistry, and they discussed several subjects that had perhaps never been on the table before, and now we are moving forward on them.”
He said that the leaders discussed expanding ties in trade, investment, defence, agriculture, oil and gas, and other critical sectors.
Ambassador Bhatia further added, “Today, six agreements were also shared between the two nations. With this, the relations between the two nations, both of which are part of the Global South, will further strengthen.”
Visa liberalisation
One of the important issues discussed was visa liberalisation, to ease the transit process for citizens of both countries.
In this context, PM Modi said, “We wish for India-Brazil relations to be as vibrant as Carnival, as passionate as football, and as heart-connecting as Samba — all without the long visa counter queues! With this spirit, we will work together to ease people-to-people exchanges between our two nations, especially for tourists, students, sportspersons, and businessmen.”
Ambassador Bhatia also highlighted the importance of easing visa procedures.
He stated, “Visa liberalisation is important because when you want to boost trade and investment, it becomes crucial that businessmen and genuine tourists can obtain visas easily.”
The Ambassador also said that President Lula expressed deep sorrow in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack that took away 26 lives, and extended Brazil’s support in the global landscape to combat terrorism.
He further added, “Brazil and President Lula strongly condemned the recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam. In addition, the new agreement on information exchange will help us significantly in counter-terrorism and tackling transnational crime.”
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