Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral talks with the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on 21 February 2026, as part of President Lula da Silva’s State Visit to India (18–22 February 2026).
President Lula received a ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan, where he was greeted by President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Modi and accorded the Guard of Honour. He also paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat. Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met with President Lula to discuss ways to advance the strategic partnership between the two nations. President Lula da Silva was accompanied by 11 ministers and approximately 300 business representatives, including 50 chief executives, reflecting the scale of commercial interest from the Brazilian side.
Bilateral Discussions at Hyderabad House
The two leaders reviewed the full range of the India-Brazil partnership, covering trade and investments, oil and gas, renewable energy, mining and critical minerals, defence and security, agriculture, healthcare and traditional medicine, tourism, space, science and technology, digital public infrastructure, and people-to-people ties. They also exchanged views on bilateral, regional, and global issues of mutual interest, including cooperation in multilateral forums, the need to reform global governance, and matters important to the Global South.
Both countries cooperate within the G20, IBSA, and the United Nations, and as members of the G4, they support comprehensive reform of the UN Security Council.
Ten Outcomes
The bilateral talks culminated in a set of outcomes spanning governmental, institutional, and private-sector domains, reflecting the diversification of the partnership. At the intergovernmental level, both sides adopted a Joint Declaration on a Digital Partnership for the Future and concluded multiple Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) across strategic sectors, including rare earths and critical minerals, mining for the steel supply chain, postal services, and cooperation in micro, small, and medium enterprises, entrepreneurship, and crafts. Regulatory and knowledge-based collaboration was strengthened through an MoU between the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa) and India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), an MoU on Electronic Certificates of Origin, and a Cooperation Agreement enabling access to the Digital Library of Traditional Knowledge (TKDL) between CSIR and INPI.
Education and cultural linkages were advanced through institutional partnerships focused on digital transformation in education, journalism and mass communication, and film and media studies.
In the public and private sectors, pharmaceutical cooperation featured prominently, with MoUs between Farmanguinhos/Fiocruz and Biocon Pharma Limited, as well as Lupin Limited. Trade and investment promotion was reinforced through an MoU between ApexBrasil and FICCI.
Technology, Energy, and Digital Cooperation
PM Modi announced progress towards establishing a Centre of Excellence for Digital Public Infrastructure in Brazil. Cooperation was also prioritised in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, supercomputers, and blockchain. Regarding energy, both sides agreed to expand collaboration in renewable energy, ethanol blending, and sustainable aviation fuel. Brazil’s participation in the Global Biofuels Alliance was acknowledged. PM Modi described the agreement on critical minerals and rare earths as a significant step towards building resilient supply chains.
Trade and Economic Targets
PM Modi underscored that Brazil is India’s largest trading partner in Latin America. “Our talks focused on ways to deepen the India-Brazil trade partnership; we are committed to increasing bilateral trade well beyond USD 20 billion in the next five years.” Bilateral trade currently stands at USD 15.21 billion, representing a growth of over 25 per cent compared to the previous period.
President Lula da Silva proposed that the target of USD 20 billion should be raised to USD 30 billion by 2030, highlighting the depth and potential of commercial engagement on both sides. Both leaders agreed to this and also discussed facilitating market access and addressing tariff and non-tariff barriers.
India and Brazil have been strategic partners since 2006. This visit followed PM Modi’s state visit to Brazil in July 2025. President Lula da Silva’s current visit is his fifth to India as President of Brazil and his second state visit. The visiting ministers held separate meetings with their Indian counterparts on the sidelines of the state visit.
