FORGING A SOUTHERN AXIS

The 2026 India-Brazil summit represents the maturation of the bilateral relationship from a diplomatic dialogue to a strategic industrial and technological partnership. The co-production of aircraft defines it, the shared refining of green fuel, the mutual maintenance of submarines, and the interlinking of digital financial networks.

- VISHAL DUGGAL

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's official visit to India, scheduled for February 19-21, 2026, is anything but routine. Dubbed a "mega-" issue, it carries a singular geopolitical objective: to decisively pivot Brazil's strategic compass towards the Global South, with India as its cardinal point. This visit is the culmination of a memorandum built during a high-level phone call between PM Modi and President Lula on January 22, 2026, during which they reaffirmed a ten-ye10-yearegic roadmap focused on defence, digital transformation, and energy transition.

Accompanied by a delegation of nearly 150 business leaders—the largest-ever Brazilian business mission to an Asian nation—the visit aims to translate long-standing diplomatic warmth into a concrete, decade-l "ng "S" rat" gic Roa "map" "uil" on industrial integration and shared strategic autonomy. At the heart of this roadmap lies a powerful triad of collaboration: deep defence and aviation manufacturing, pioneering biofuels and green energy alliances, and the creation of new digital and trade infrastructures designed to reduce external dependencies.

This plan is structured around several key, actionable pillars of cooperation.

Recalibrating the Economic Engine