India, Brazil vow to double trade to $20bn in 5 years

India and Brazil on Tuesday set a target of almost doubling their bilateral trade to $20 billion over the next five years as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva held talks on expanding collaboration in areas ranging from defence to trade and technology.

- Rezaul H Laskar

During their meeting, they reaffirmed their commitment to a “zero tolerance” approach in the fight against terror and opposed both terrorism and those who support the menace. Modi travelled to the capital Brasilia for the bilateral meeting with Lula after attending the Brics Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

The two sides signed six agreements, including a pact on combating international terrorism and transnational organised crime and another on the exchange and mutual protection of classified information. They also signed MoUs on cooperation in renewable energy, solutions for digital transformation, and agricultural research.

“We talked about strengthening cooperation in every field. We have set a target to take bilateral trade to $20 billion in five years,” Modi said at a joint media interaction with Lula.