“Brazil and India are not just two major democracies of the Global South. We are the meeting point of the pharmacy of the world with the breadbasket of the world.… Two megadiverse countries, with cultural strength and commitment to multilateralism and peace,” Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wrote after his Feb. 21 state visit to India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Typically exuberant, Lula called his meetings in India “superlative,” when the two addressed the press. Modi, for his part, reminded that the collaboration of their two countries “in the fields of technology and innovation holds significance not only for our two countries, but also for the entire Global South.” He emphasized that “when India and Brazil work together, the voice of the Global South becomes stronger and more confident.”
Brazil chaired the BRICS in 2025; India is the 2026 chair. Lula described the two countries as “partners” in building a more just and peaceful multilateral system “ruled by international law,” and reported that the two national leaders had spoken “at length about perseverance on the path to peace. There can be no sustainable and equitable development in a world torn by conflict.”
As the breakdown of the Western-dominated world system has escalated, Lula and Modi have developed a mutually “trusting” relationship, as Modi put it. Lula had invited Modi for a state visit after Brazil hosted the BRICS Summit in 2025, where the two agreed on a 10-year plan to develop bilateral relations in five strategic areas: defense and security; food and nutritional security; energy transition and climate change; digital transformation and emerging technologies, and industrial partnerships in strategic areas.
