Policy Update
Shivanshi
Background
As India and Brazil deepen their roles as leading voices of the Global South, their Strategic Partnership has evolved into one of the most substantive South-South relationships in international diplomacy. The India–Brazil Strategic Partnership was established in 2006, built on shared democratic values and a commitment to economic growth with social inclusion.
The relationship has deepened over the following two decades through instruments such as the India–MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement, signed in 2004 and in force since 2009. More recently, both countries collaborated closely as G20 host (India, 2023) and COP30 host (Brazil, 2025), building toward Prime Minister Modi’s State Visit to Brazil in July 2025, when the two sides issued the Brasília Joint Statement, “India and Brazil: Two Great Nations with Higher Purposes.” That visit set a strategic roadmap around five pillars: (1) defence and security; (2) food and nutritional security; (3) energy transition and climate change; (4) digital transformation and emerging technologies; and (5) industrial partnerships in strategic areas.
This roadmap culminated in President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s State Visit to India from 18–22 February 2026, his fifth visit overall and second State Visit. He participated in the second AI Impact Summit on 19–20 February and held bilateral talks with PM Modi at Hyderabad House on 21 February, accompanied by eleven Brazilian cabinet ministers and a delegation of business and civil-society representatives. The visit included a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhawan, a tribute at Rajghat, and a State Banquet hosted by President Droupadi Murmu.
Functioning
The partnership encompasses a broad range of ongoing bilateral processes across all five pillars, including the 6th Strategic Dialogue and 8th Joint Defence Committee Meeting (2025), the first ever India–Brazil Cyber Dialogue in Brasilia (November 2025), the Joint Working Group on Renewable Energy (first virtual meeting in July 2025 following the MoU), and the Joint Commission on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, due to meet for the third time in India in August 2026.
These consultations created the preconditions for the February 2026 visit, representing months of working-group and ministerial-level preparatory work culminating in the signature of a series of cooperation documents on digital, critical minerals, steel-sector mining, MSMEs, postal links, health regulations, and archives, as well as education and public-private collaboration agreements, including Fiocruz-Biocon, Fiocruz-Lupin ties, and an ApexBrasil-FICCI MoU on trade and investment. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s participation in the India–Brazil Business Forum the same day provided a private-sector counterpart to the ministers’ meetings.
Performance Across the Five Pillars
Security: Both sides committed to co-design and co-production, linking India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat with Brazil’s defence industrial base, reflected in the trilateral MoU between Mazagaon Dock Ltd and both navies for Scorpene-class submarine maintenance. Cooperation extended to peaceful uses of outer space, satellite design, and UN Peacekeeping Operations. The two leaders condemned terrorism, such as the Pahalgam (April 2025) and New Delhi attacks (November 2025), and pledged to cooperate in tackling terrorism financing through UN and Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Food and Nutritional Security: Both leaders committed to stepping up joint agricultural research for enhancing productivity and invited research and development (R&D) institutions of both nations to contribute towards animal nutrition. They welcomed the various areas of cooperation in agrochemicals, nano fertilizers for climate-resilient agriculture, besides expressing approval for the MAITRI 2.0 Cross Incubation Program for agrifood innovation. The opposite agricultural seasons of the two countries were flagged as a basis for expanding trade.
Energy Transition and Sustainability: Prime Minister Modi expressed gratitude to President Lula for organizing COP30 in Belem and the Belem political package and congratulated him for launching the Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF) that funds projects for sustainable use of tropical forests. They agreed to renew the Belém Pledge on Sustainable Fuels, which mandates increasing the use of sustainable forms of energy four times by 2035, compared to its level in 2024.
The MoU on Renewable Energy signed in July 2025 covers the sectors of solar energy, wind energy, biomass, hydro energy, energy storage and green hydrogen. The MoU on critical minerals and rare earths aims to ensure the supply of critical minerals and rare earths required for sustainable energy technologies.
Digital Transformation: The Joint Declaration on Digital Partnership for the Future encompasses collaboration in digital public infrastructure, artificial intelligence learning, and data protection frameworks, alongside the newly launched Open Planetary Intelligence Network linking digital and climate agendas. Both sides welcomed the AI Impact Summit’s Leaders Document and existing multilateral AI governance instruments, including the BRICS Leaders Declaration on Global Governance of AI.
Industrial Partnerships: Beyond the MSME cooperation MoU, both sides agreed to intensify discussion on the steel value chain, covering investment facilitation and technology cooperation. In the field of oil and gas, they have mentioned participation in deepwater and ultra-deepwater exploration, agreeing to enter into mutual investments, which includes emission reduction initiatives and carbon capture.
In terms of trade, bilateral trade grew by 25.5% in 2025 when compared to 2024, with leaders establishing very high objectives of reaching USD 30 billion by the year 2030. Mr. Goyal while delivering his speech during the Business Forum stated that both countries have the ability to “grow faster, grow bigger and grow together,” pointing out India having received almost USD 80 billion of FDI in FY2025, which represents record FDI inflow into the country and an evidence of India’s growing standing as a trusted investment destination.
Impact
The Digital Partnership and the Rare Earths and Critical Minerals MoU together denote a significant step in diversifying India’s technology governance partnerships and critical mineral supply chains, framed explicitly around clean energy and high-tech manufacturing needs. This matters strategically: Brazil’s mineral resources offer India an alternative sourcing option as it seeks to reduce concentration risk in critical mineral supply chains, particularly given how few major alternative suppliers currently exist outside a small number of dominant producers.
The Open Planetary Intelligence Network, launched under this partnership, represents a novel attempt to integrate digital and climate agendas into what the Joint Statement describes as a “unified planetary agenda”, positioning India and Brazil as co-architects of a Global South-oriented digital and climate governance model, building on the successes of the 2023 G20 in India and COP30 in Brazil. For India, this cooperation adds weight to its broader effort to shape Global South institution-building on AI and digital governance terms distinct from those set by existing major powers, extending the template established through India’s G20 presidency and the International Solar Alliance.
On the economic side, the Cooperation and Facilitation Investment Agreement and the amended Double Taxation Avoidance Convention, both now in force, provide Indian and Brazilian businesses a more predictable, transparent framework for expanding investment flows. The India-Brazil Business Leaders Forum, alongside the ApexBrasil-FICCI MoU, is set to translate this institutional groundwork into deeper commercial engagement, particularly in aviation, telecommunications, and cosmetics, sectors both leaders flagged for greater collaboration.
The defence component has achieved a tangible industrial outcome by signing the trilateral MoU between Mazagaon Dock Ltd and the Navy for the maintenance of the Scorpene-class submarines, showing how the Atmanirbhar Bharat-Brazil link is taking shape in terms of actual deliverables rather than remaining in the realm of just plans. The same is expected from the agreement on rare earth elements and critical minerals, which should help enhance the mineral exploration, processing, and refining ecosystem of collaborating nations.
Regarding people-to-people contact, the extension of the multiple entry tourist and business class visa period to 10 years from 5 years and the increase in co-operation in sectors such as cinema, sports, archives and educational exchange (including the IIIT Bangalore and Federal University of Minas Gerais MoUs) would contribute to broadening bilateral ties beyond the government-to-government level.
Emerging Issues
Several structural factors will shape how far this partnership can progress in the near term. Geography remains a basic constraint: the sheer distance between India and Brazil keeps logistics costs high relative to India’s trade with closer partners, which partly explains why bilateral trade, though growing at 25.5% in 2025, remains modest in absolute terms against the USD 30 billion target set for 2030. Closing this gap will depend less on political will, which both sides have clearly demonstrated, than on addressing the non-tariff barriers and anti-dumping/countervailing duty processes both leaders have already flagged for joint attention.
A related challenge is to move from a “shared vision” (India-MERCOSUR PTA) to actually concluding negotiations on a PTA that defines the market access commitments; trade negotiations of this magnitude typically take several years to conclude, and the timeline for this one is yet to be seen.
Similarly, the new agreements/initiatives concluded this month – the Digital Partnership, the Critical Minerals MoU, and the commitments on AI governance, are also at an early stage, and their benefits will be realized based on how quickly both sides can develop the details of implementation, which is usually a slower process than negotiating the MoU itself. This will be an important issue to watch out for in the context of the Joint Commission on Scientific and Technological Cooperation to be held in August 2026.
Lastly, since India and Brazil are likely to have differing developmental priorities (with Brazil being more focused on commodities and agriculture, and India on technology and manufacturing), convergence on jointly desirable outcomes (rather than each pursuing their individual priorities) will require enhanced coordination in the various working groups that both countries have established on these issues.
Way Forward
The visit that took place in February 2026 represents an advancement in terms of the India-Brazil strategic partnership. Originally established in 2006 as a Strategic Partnership, the relationship has gradually progressed into the current five-pillar strategic partnership which encompasses security, food security, sustainability, digitalization, and industry. The agreements reached in February 2026 are a natural continuation of the Brasilia Roadmap laid down in 2025 and demonstrate the progress made by the partnership since 2006.
With India set to assume the BRICS Presidency in 2026 under the theme of ‘Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability,’ and the confirmation that President Lula will attend the 18th BRICS Summit to be held in India later this year, the two countries have multiple venues to advance their strategic partnership. The third meeting of the Joint Commission on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, scheduled for August 2026 in India, offers a near-term opportunity to advance the digital, AI, and technology components of the partnership. Continued engagement through the India-MERCOSUR PTA expansion process is expected to widen market access for both agricultural and industrial goods over time.
On sustainability, the momentum generated by COP30 and the Tropical Forests Forever Facility enables India and Brazil to play an active role in mobilising international climate finance, with both countries well placed to encourage other nations to contribute to the Facility’s capitalisation. The partnership has a comprehensive agenda on sustainability issues in respect to the immediate visit, which combines with the Belém 4x Pledge on Sustainable Fuels and the ongoing Renewable Energy Joint Working Group.
Overall, the strategic roadmap’s five pillars provide a durable institutional architecture, anchored in regular ministerial dialogues, joint working groups, and a growing set of binding instruments, that enables India and Brazil to deepen cooperation steadily across security, technology, and sustainability in the years ahead, reinforcing their shared vision for a more representative and cooperative Global South. Looking ahead, the partnership’s trajectory suggests a shift from declaratory diplomacy toward institutionalised, sector-specific cooperation, with defence co-production, critical minerals, and digital governance likely to emerge as the most closely watched pillars ahead of the18th BRICS Summit.
References
Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. (2026, February 21). India-Brazil Joint Statement: State Visit of President of Brazil to India. New Delhi. https://www.mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl/40812/India_Brazil_Joint_Statement__State_Visit_of_President_of_Brazil_to_India
Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Commerce and Industry. (2026, February 21). Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Shri Piyush Goyal Calls for Ambitious India-Brazil Trade Surge Beyond USD 15 Billion, Deeper Ties in Defence, Renewables, Pharma and Emerging Tech. PIB Delhi. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2231335®=3&lang=1
About the Contributor
Shivanshi is a Research and Editorial Intern at the Impact and Policy Research Institute (IMPRI) and a recent graduate in Political Science from Miranda House, University of Delhi. Her research interests include public policy, international relations, and governance.
Acknowledgement
The author extends sincere gratitude to IMPRI India for its valuable guidance and support.
Reviewers
Nayanshi Jain and Pallavi Lad
Disclaimer
All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organisation.
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