India and Brazil formalised a pact on cooperative work in mining and minerals on Saturday, part of New Delhi's push to secure inputs for an expanding domestic steel industry and to support capacity build-out amid intense global competition for raw materials. The agreement was signed in the presence of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who travelled to New Delhi earlier in the week for a three-day visit.
Brazil is one of the world’s leading iron ore producers and is reported to hold substantial reserves of minerals that are important to steelmaking. An Indian government statement said closer cooperation between the two countries is expected to improve India’s access to both raw materials and technologies needed to sustain long-term growth in its steel sector.
The stated priorities under the cooperation include attracting investment directed at exploration, mining activity and infrastructure for the steel sector. India currently has steelmaking capacity of 218 million metric tons, and the statement noted that companies are expanding output to meet rising domestic demand driven by infrastructure development and industrialisation.
Speaking to a meeting that included a Brazilian delegation led by President Lula, Prime Minister Modi said the talks had concentrated on ways to deepen the trade partnership between the two countries. "We are committed to taking bilateral trade much beyond $20 billion in the next five years," he said. Bilateral trade at present stands at about $15 billion.
Modi also indicated a broader agenda of collaboration beyond raw materials, saying: "Our nations will also work closely in areas such as technology, innovation, digital public infrastructure, AI, semiconductors and more," according to the government statement.
India and Brazil have held strategic partnership status since 2006, with cooperation covering trade, defence, energy, agriculture, health, critical minerals, technology and digital infrastructure. The Indian government statement identified Brazil as India’s largest trading partner in the Latin America and Caribbean region, and said the two countries coordinate on global issues including U.N. reform, climate change and counter-terrorism.
The visit also saw President Lula raise currency-settlement questions. On Thursday he advocated for Brazil and India to conduct trade in their own currencies rather than settling transactions in U.S. dollars, but he dismissed speculation that the BRICS group of which both nations are members would create a common currency.
As laid out in the statement accompanying the agreement, the collaboration centres on expanding investment in exploration and mining projects and strengthening steel-sector infrastructure to support India’s domestic output increases. The declaration reiterated long-standing bilateral ties across a range of policy areas and re-emphasised a shared interest in enhancing trade and technological cooperation.