Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, on a four-day visit to New Delhi with the largest-ever Brazilian delegation, has said that ties between Brazil and India are poised for a decisive expansion. In an exclusive interview with The Hindu, President Lula emphasised that “as two of the world’s largest democracies and dynamic economies, India and Brazil cannot remain distant”.
On trade, Mr. Lula acknowledged that bilateral commerce, though at a record high in 2025, remains far below potential at around $15 billion. The visit aims to significantly expand trade flows, with agreements expected in critical minerals — the first of their kind for Brazil — and small and medium enterprises, a key employment generator. Mr. Lula also highlighted the Brazil-India Business Forum in New Delhi, which will bring together 600 private sector representatives, arguing that business partnerships will convert political goodwill into “shared prosperity.”
India, the Brazilian leader told The Hindu, is central to Brazil’s long-term economic diversification strategy. “The answer to trade wars is more international trade,” Mr. Lula said, calling for expanded Mercosur-India ties.
Responding to a question on artificial intelligence, Mr. Lula warned against “digital colonialism”. AI, he said, must not become the preserve of a few nations or billionaires. Brazil and India should champion an “emancipatory” AI that reflects the Global South, promotes inclusion and is governed multilaterally.
Looking ahead to India’s BRICS presidency in 2026, Mr. Lula expressed confidence that New Delhi would advance reforms in global governance. He described multilateralism as facing unprecedented strain, with the UN Security Council in urgent need of reform. Brazil and India, he argued, deserve permanent seats, alongside African nations, to reflect 21st-century realities.
At a time of geopolitical flux, Brazil and India are natural partners and they can translate their long-recognised potential into concrete strategic alignment, Mr. Lula said in the interview.
During your visit to New Delhi, what concrete measures and agreements are expected to deepen and diversify trade between India and Brazil?
Bilateral trade between Brazil and India reached its highest level in 2025, but it remains far below its true potential. India has 1.4 billion people and Brazil has 215 million. It makes no sense for our trade to be only $15 billion. That is why significantly expanding our trade flows is one of the main objectives of this visit. We will sign several agreements to achieve this goal. We will sign agreements on critical minerals — the first of its kind to be signed by Brazil — and on small and medium-sized enterprises, a sector that generates millions of jobs. During my visit, I will also take part in the Brazil-India Business Forum, with 600 representatives from the private sectors of both countries. Because it is the private sector, through partnerships and joint projects, that will transform the excellent relationship we have with India into shared prosperity for our societies.
Brazil and India cannot remain distant. Two of the world’s largest democracies, with extraordinarily diverse cultures and dynamic economies, have an obligation to build a much closer relationship. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and I are working towards that goal.
You are travelling with the largest Brazilian business delegation ever brought to India, along with several ministers. What is the importance of India for Brazil’s long-term economic strategy, especially when emerging economies are seeking new markets in an era of tariffs and trade wars?
I often say that the answer to the crisis of multilateralism is more multilateralism. And the answer to trade wars is more international trade. Diversifying trade partnerships with both emerging and traditional economies is a central part of Brazil’s strategy. In this, we have a strong convergence with India. This convergence now needs to translate into concrete results.
We in Mercosur have signed a partnership agreement with the European Union. Less than two weeks later, India did the same. We now need to make the expansion of the Mercosur–India trade agreement a reality. We have complementary interests in areas such as biofuels, artificial intelligence, science and technology, defence, the space industry, and health. We both stand for fair, multilateral, open, and rules-based trade, anchored in the World Trade Organization (WTO). The futures of Brazil and India are closely linked.
You participated in the AI Impact Summit in Delhi. How can Brazil and India lead broader cooperation among Global South countries in the field of AI, ensuring equitable access to technology, joint development, and rules that serve their interests?
We must avoid a new form of colonialism: digital colonialism. The development of artificial intelligence is irreversible, but it cannot become a privilege of a few countries, nor a tool of manipulation in the hands of billionaires. Brazil and India are interested in an emancipatory artificial intelligence — one that reflects the face of the Global South, strengthens cultural diversity, and serves as a tool for peace, not war.
We need every chip, every algorithm, to carry the mark of social inclusion. To achieve this, we need intergovernmental governance of artificial intelligence. It is urgent that the United Nations be at the centre of this debate, and that all states have a seat at the table. Our countries have the conditions to be at the forefront of this agenda, as demonstrated by the AI Impact Summit organised by the Indian government.
Brazil has emphasised the importance of India’s upcoming BRICS presidency in 2026. What are your expectations regarding India’s leadership in the bloc, particularly with respect to the reform of global governance institutions?
Brazil handed over the BRICS presidency to India in 2026. I am confident that India’s presidency will carry forward important Brazilian initiatives for cooperation within the bloc, in areas such as health and the fight against socially determined diseases, climate change, and artificial intelligence.
As for global governance, we are witnessing an unprecedented collapse of multilateralism. The paralysis of the United Nations and its Security Council has contributed to the rise in armed conflicts around the world, to levels not seen since the end of the Second World War.
BRICS has a very important role to play in this process. The group is a defender of multilateralism and has legitimacy in the debates on a renewed governance, in which the voice of the Global South carries weight.
Brazil and India agree that global governance institutions must reflect the new multipolar reality of the 21st century and effectively promote peace. We are countries that have traditionally advocated reform of the Council to make it more legitimate, representative, effective, and democratic. It makes no sense, at this stage of the 21st century, for the Security Council not to include India, Brazil, and African countries as permanent members.
We fully support India’s BRICS presidency in advancing these objectives.
The long-pending Mercosur-India trade agreement is expected to be discussed during your visit. Do you see this trip as a decisive moment to advance this framework, particularly in light of the recent Mercosur-European Union agreement and shifting global trade patterns?
When I took office again as President of Brazil, at the beginning of 2023, I made a commitment to open new markets and build trade partnerships around the world. In three years, we have opened more than 500 markets and, through Mercosur, signed important trade agreements with the European Union (EU), EFTA, and Singapore.
These agreements are multilateralism’s response to protectionism and to the logic of trade wars that impoverish countries and increase inequality. Prime Minister Modi shares a very similar view to ours on the importance of trade agreements.
It is in this spirit that expanding the Mercosur-India Agreement, in force since 2009, is one of the priorities of my visit. In its current form, the agreement is very limited, as it covers only a small percentage of products. We will expand it and reduce the barriers that still obstruct our trade. In doing so, we will increase our trade flows, which remain far below the size of our countries and economies.
At a time when multilateralism is under pressure and major powers are redefining trade and security rules, how do you see Brazil and India working together to shape a more balanced, rules-based global order that reflects the interests of the Global South?
Brazil and India have long coordinated closely in international fora. At the World Health Organization (WHO), we advocate health sovereignty and access to medicines, vaccines, and essential inputs for public health. At the WTO, we stand for rules-based trade.
A new global order requires reform of international institutions and the strengthening of multilateralism and diplomacy. The current architecture was designed in 1945 and does not reflect today’s world. But many other institutions also need to change. The World Bank, for example, needs reform to expand the participation of developing countries in its leadership. The WTO must also recover its role in regulating international trade.
Brazil and India are especially well positioned to drive these transformations. As members of the G20, BRICS, and IBSA, we act unequivocally in defence of multilateralism. We are natural partners in addressing some of the greatest challenges of our time, namely the eradication of hunger and poverty and tackling climate change. We are also two of the ten largest economies in the world and two of the largest democracies. We uphold universalist diplomatic traditions. The “strategic diversification” pursued by India converges with the universalism of Brazilian foreign policy. We are countries that engage with all, without automatic alignments. We are bridges between the Global North and the Global South, and between the West and the East. We want to continue expanding our relations with the world. It has long been said that it is natural for Brazil and India to work more closely together. For all these reasons, the time has come to turn this potential into reality.
