Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will visit New Delhi from February 19 to 21 to attend the Global Artificial Intelligence Summit, in what officials describe as one of the most significant bilateral engagements between India and Brazil in recent years.
Diplomatic sources said President Lula will be accompanied by a high-level ministerial team and a large business delegation, including representatives from more than 100 Brazilian companies, making it the largest Brazilian delegation to an Asian country. Talks during the visit are expected to span a wide range of strategic and economic issues, including trade, food and energy security, health cooperation, defence and aerospace, high technology, civil aviation, and coordination in multilateral forums such as BRICS.
The visit comes as India holds the BRICS chairship and amid accelerating geopolitical and economic realignments across regions. Officials on both sides see the engagement as an opportunity to strengthen South–South cooperation and deepen coordination on global governance and development-related issues.
Trade and investment are expected to be central to the discussions. According to official figures from Brazil’s Ministry of Trade and Industry, bilateral merchandise trade reached a record USD 15.2 billion in 2025, with Brazil remaining India’s largest trading partner in Latin America and the Caribbean, and India ranking among Brazil’s top ten global trade partners. Both governments have set a target of expanding bilateral trade to around USD 20 billion in the coming years, with agribusiness, energy, mining, technology and manufacturing identified as priority sectors.
Business leaders from Brazil have increasingly described India as a key growth market, citing opportunities across agriculture, food processing, pharmaceuticals, digital services and advanced manufacturing. Lula’s India visit is part of a broader Asian outreach that also includes a business mission to South Korea, reflecting Brazil’s efforts to diversify economic partnerships beyond traditional Western markets.
Defence and technology cooperation are also expected to feature in the talks. Brazilian officials have previously expressed interest in Indian defence platforms and technology co-development, including secure communications and air defence systems. In the civil aviation sector, an announcement is expected next week on a partnership between Adani Aerospace and Brazil’s Embraer for the assembly of commercial aircraft in India.
Health cooperation, particularly in pharmaceuticals and vaccines, is set to receive renewed attention, building on the two countries’ long-standing coordination at the World Trade Organization on access to affordable medicines.
The visit follows a series of high-level engagements between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Lula, including Modi’s state visit to Brazil last year. In a telephone conversation on January 22, the two leaders reviewed progress in the India–Brazil Strategic Partnership and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening cooperation across trade, defence, energy, agriculture, technology and people-to-people ties.
Negotiations to expand the MERCOSUR–India Preferential Trade Agreement have also been reopened, with officials indicating that the proposed expansion aims to address non-tariff barriers and modernise the trade and investment framework between India and the South American bloc. Ahead of the visit, both countries have brought into force a new reciprocal visa arrangement extending the validity of tourism and business visas from five to ten years.
President Lula had confirmed last year that a state visit to India would take place in early 2026. His New Delhi trip is also expected to feed into preparations for the BRICS Summit that India will host later this year, where India and Brazil are expected to coordinate closely on issues affecting the Global South.
