Historical Background:
Deep
-
rooted historical ties between
India and Brazil can possibly be traced
back to the Asian migration to South America, which contributed to the evolution of the
indigenous people of Americas. Between the 16
th
-
18
th
centuries, Brazil and Goa, both
outposts of the Portuguese imperialist ou
treach, had bilateral exchanges, which found
interesting similarities between folk traditions of Boi Bumba in the north of Brazil and
the Poikam Kudharai of South
India, for instance, draw attention to the strong under
currents of cultural and popular exchanges that have taken place in the centuries by
-
gone. The telecasting of tele
-
novella called ‘Caminho das Indias’ (Paths to India)
made a great impact in enhancin
g the consciousness of India in the Brazilian public
mind. India’s contribution to farming in Brazil is remarkable, though relatively a lesser
known facet of our bilateral relationship. The bulk of Brazilian cattle livestock is of
Indian origin. The ‘Ong
ole’ strain from Andhra Pradesh led to the production of the
zebu variety known in Brazil as ‘Nelore’. India opened its diplomatic mission in Rio de
Janeiro on May 3, 1948, which later moved to Brasilia on August 1, 1971. The Indian
Consulate General in S
ao Paulo, the industrial and commercial hub of Brazil, was
opened in 1996. The Brazilian Embassy has been functional in India since 1949 and
has Consulate General in Mumbai.
Important Bilateral Visits:
Regular high level bilateral visits have provided a
sustained impetus to the
growing relationship. From the Indian side Vice President S. Radhakrishnan (1954),
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (1968), Prime Minister Narasimha Rao (1992
-
for Earth
Summit), President K.R. Narayan (1998), Prime Minister Dr. Man
mohan Singh (2006,
April 2010 and June 2012) and President Pratibha Patil (2008) have visited Brazil
while President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1996), President Lula (2004, 2007 &
2008) and President Dilma Rousseff (March 2012) reciprocated from the Brazil
ian
side.
Recent Ministerial visits have been: Shri P. Chidambaram, Finance Minister
(Nov 2008), Shri S.M. Krishna, Minister of External Affairs (August
-
September 2009),
Smt. Preneet Kaur, Minister of State for External Affairs (May 2010), Shri Jairam
R
amesh, Environment Minister (July 2010), Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia (September
2010, April 2011), Shri Sharad Pawar, Agriculture Minister (September 2010), Shri
Anand Sharma, Commerce, Industry and Textile Minister (June 2012), Smt Jayanthi
Natarajan, Mi
nister of state for Environment and Forests (June 2012), Shri Beni
Prasad Verma, Steel Minister (February 2013), Shri Ajay Maken, Minister of Housing
and Urban Poverty Alleviation (February 2013) from India and those of Celso Amorim
as Foreign Minister (Ap
ril and July 2007 and again in September 2009 for Ministerial
meeting in WTO
-
Doha Round and as Defence Minister in February 2012), Minister of
Health, Jose Temporao (July, 2008), Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade Mr.
Miguel Jorge (March and October 20
08), Minister of Defence Nelson Jobin (March
2010), Minister of External Relations Antonio Patriota in March 2011 for IBSA
Ministerial and bilateral meetings and in December 2011 for India
-
Brazil Joint
Commission Meeting.
Sixth India
-
Brazil Joint Comm
ission Meeting:
External Affairs Minister, Shri Salman Khurshid visited Brazil from October 14
-
17, 2013. He co
-
chaired the Sixth India
-
Brazil JCM with his counterpart Mr Luiz
Alberto Figueiredo in Brasilia. During the JCM, both sides discussed the entir
e gamut
of India
-
Brazil Strategic Partnership including Political, Economic and Commercial,
Agriculture, Science and Technology, Defence, Cultural, Hydrocarbon, etc. They also
exchanged views on regional developments and international issues of common
inte
rest. The Foreign Ministers of
Brazil
and
India
welcomed
the signing of
a
protocol
to
the agreement for the av
oidance of double taxation
. Both sides expect
to soon exchange the notes on the ratification of the bilateral Agreement on Mutual
Assistance on Customs Matters, which will strengthen cooperation between cu
stoms
authorities, in order to enforce customs laws and regulations. Such cooperation will
contribute to the expansion of trade flows and will ensure the security of logistic
chains. Agreement on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, which will enhance
prospe
cts of a closer cooperation between Brazil and India in legal assistance
matters, was also signed during the visit. The two sides also expressed satisfaction
with the renewal of the Agreement on Cooperation between their respective diplomatic
academies, th
e Foreign Service Institute and "Instituto Rio Branco", signed in 2007.
Brazil expressed its interest in implementing the new program for the interchange of
professors between the two diplomatic academies. The agreed minutes of 6th Meeting
of Brazil
–
Indi
a Joint Commission was signed by the two Foreign Ministers on 15th
October, 2013 in Brasilia had 92 paras covering a wide range of issues such as
Strategic partnership; Economic and Trade relations; Mining and Energy; Agriculture
and Food Processing; Scie
nce & Technology; Environment and Sustainable
Development; Technical Cooperation; Social and Health issues; Education; Culture;
Tourism; Sports; Consular issues; and Regional and Multilateral issues.
India
-
Brazil Bilateral Trade:
Brazil is one of the
most important trading partners of India in the entire LAC
(Latin America and Caribbean) region.
India Brazil bilateral trade has increased
substantially in the last two decades. However,
India's total bilateral trade (in goods)
with Brazil fell to 9.5 bil
lion dollars in 2013 decreasing by 10.7% from 10.6 billion in
2012 (Trade in goods and services, though, surged to an estimated US$12 billion).
Imports from Brazil to India that had grown sharply in 2012 from 3.2 billion USD to 5.6
billion USD fell back as
sharply over in 2013 due mainly to reduction in crude oil
exports of Brazil. Crude
-
Diesel forming a huge share in our bilateral trade, close to
50%, is bound to cause such drastic swings depending on performance of this sub
sector in a particular year. In
dian exports to Brazil that had seen in a dip in 2012 grew
back again past the 6 billion USD mark mainly owing to rise in the diesel exports this
year, result of continued robust domestic demand and decrease in its own production
in 2013 in Brazil. Brazil'
s share in Indian export market was about 2.6% whereas
Brazil's share in Indian imports is about 1.3%. Major portion of Indian exports to Brazil
comprises of manufactured products, followed by commodities and then semi
manufactured goods. Whereas, Brazil's
exports to India are dominated by
commodities, mainly crude oil. Diesel exports by Reliance itself account for more than
52% of India's exports to Brazil, up from the forty one percent of India's exports in
2012. Other top Indian products exported to Braz
il are: Polyester Yarn, Chemical
Products, Drugs and Cotton Yarn. Most of these products have registered growth in
2013. Top products imported by India from Brazil include crude oil (imported by
Reliance, accounting for, in 2013, 51% of total Indian import
s or US$1.6 billion); sugar
(imported by Renuka Sugar India from Renuka do Brazil, at US$ 435 million,
accounting for almost 14% of total imports); soy oil imports (US$233 million) and
copper (US$240 million). Like Petroleum, the top 5 Brazilian exports to
India viz.
sugar, Soybean oil crude, Sulphide copper ores and other Copper ores and
concentrates, all showed a negative growth in 2013 over the year 2012.
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