The president of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Jair Messias Bolsonaro paid a 4-day official visit to India from January 24-27, 2020. The highlights of the visit in detail are as follows:
15 MoU signed:
Brazil and India signed 15 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and also signed an action plan to deepen strategic partnership. The MoU in detail are as follows:
[su_table]
| Si.No | MoU |
| 1 | Cooperation on Bioenergy. |
| 2 | Cooperation in the field of Oil and Natural Gas. |
| 3 | Investment Cooperation and Facilitation Treaty. |
| 4 | Cooperation in Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters. |
| 5 | Cooperation in the field of Early Childhood |
| 6 | Cooperation in the field of Health and Medicine. |
| 7 | Cooperation in the field of Traditional Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy. |
| 8 | Cultural Exchange Programme for the period 2020-2024. |
| 9 | Agreement on Social Security. |
| 10 | Cooperation in the area of Cyber Security.
MoU between India’s Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) and Brazil’s General Coordination of Network Incident Treatment Centre, Department of Information Security, Institutional Security. |
| 11 | Programme of Scientific and Technological Cooperation for implementing the agreement on scientific and technological cooperation from 2020-2023. |
| 12 | Cooperation in the field of Geology and Mineral Resources between Geological Survey of India (GSI), under the Ministry of Mines and the Geological Survey of Brazil. |
| 13 | MoU between Invest India and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex Brazil) |
| 14 | Cooperation in the fields of Animal Husbandry and Dairying
For this, a Joint Declaration of Intent(JDI) between Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply of Brazil was signed. |
| 15 | Cooperation for establishing a nodal institution in India to carry out research on Bioenergy.
MoU was signed between Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. Of the Republic of India and Centro Nacional de PesquisaemEnergia e Materiais (CNPEM) of Brazil. |
[/su_table]
Brazil’s gunmaker Taurus pacted with steel group Jindal to produce guns in India:
Brazilian gunmaker Taurus Armas SA has signed for a joint Venture(JV) with Indian steelmaker Jindal Group to manufacture and sell guns in India. As per the agreement Jindal will hold a 51% stake in JV and the remaining 49% will be held by Taurus.
Participation at India’s 71st republic day:
Bolsonaro was the chief guest for the Republic Day celebrations and attended the Parade ceremony at Rajpath in New Delhi along with Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind along with other leaders. It was the 1st visit of Bolsonaro after assuming his office in January 1, 2019.
Key Points:
i.This is also the 3rd time a Brazilian president attended as chief guest of the republic day. The last time a brazilian president attended the ceremony was Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (former Brazilian president) in 2004.
ii.Previous guest: In the year 2019, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was the chief guest of the 70th Republic Day event.
Piyush Goyal addressed India-Brazil Business Forum in New Delhi:
The Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Shri Piyush Goyal addressed the gathering at the India-Brazil business forum in New Delhi. The forum was organised by Industry Body Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham). Assocham has also announced to set up an office in Brazil. Visa free travel between the two countries was announced by the Brazilian president during the forum.
i.$15billion target set: The bilateral trade and work target of $15 billion between India and Brazil was set to be achieved by 2022. The current trade level accounts to $8.2 billion. The 2018-19 export and import details between the two countries are as follows:
- Export: India’s export to Brazil during the above mentioned period were worth $3.8 billion.Some of the exports were agro-chemicals, synthetic yarns, auto components and parts, pharmaceuticals and petroleum products.
- Import: Brazil’s import to India were worth $4.4 billion. Some of the major imports were crude oil, gold, vegetable oil, sugar and bulk mineral and ores.
ii.IR with 100% electrification by 2024: The Indian Railways(IR) has set a target to run entire railway network with 100% of electricity by 2024. IR will also be the 1st railway in the world with large scale and size to be run on electricity. By 2030 IR plans to run on clean energy and become net zero carbon emitter.
iii.Participants: Brazil’s Minister of mines Bento Albuquerque, agriculture minister Teresa Cristina and other officials were present.
PM Modi, Brazilian Prez Jair Bolsonaro hold talks in New Delhi:
PM Shri Modi and Brazilian president Bolsonaro held bilateral talks in various areas which include medicine, defence, scientific research and trade etc.
Visit in India:
The Brazilian President visited the Taj Mahal in Agra, Uttar Pradesh(UP) before concluding his 4-day visit to India. He had also visited the Akshardham Temple in New Delhi.
About Brazil:
Capital- Brasilia.
Currency- Brazilian real.
President- Jair Bolsonaro.
Official language- Portuguese.
