Brazilian President Bolsonaro to arrive in India on 4-day visit today

Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro will pay a four-day visit to India starting from Friday with an aim to strengthen bilateral relations in the fields of agriculture, energy, and defence, as well as to witness the Republic Day parade as the Chief Guest.

Bolsonaro will be accompanied by a Brazilian delegation comprising of several ministers, senior officials, Chairman of Brazil-India Friendship Group in the Brazilian Parliament, and businessmen.

The second day of his visit is packed with several engagements, including his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which would subsequently be followed by the exchange of agreements between India and Brazil in different fields.

Brazilian Ambassador to New Delhi Andre Aranha Correa do Lago had told ANI on Tuesday that the two countries would ink over 15 agreements and launch a plan of action for the strategic partnership during Bolsonaro's visit.

"We are going to exchange more than 15 agreements with the government and institutions. We are also going to launch a plan of action for our strategic partnership. We want to make our strategic partnership more dynamic. The plan of action will be launched by the two leaders (Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bolsonaro)," the Ambassador had said.

Andre said that the focus of the visit would be on strengthening bilateral relationships in the fields of energy, agriculture, and defence.

"We have more than 80 Brazilian businessmen coming, and we are going to have a very important series of meetings, concentrating mostly on some areas that we believe and have identified as having a great potential for bilateral relations, which includes energy, agriculture, and defence industry," the Ambassador said.

On Sunday, Bolsonaro will witness the Republic Day parade as the Chief Guest, as well as attend "At Home" Reception by President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Other engagements include his meetings with Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar; a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Saturday, and a visit to Raj Ghat in New Delhi to lay a wreath at the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi; and a visit to Taj Mahal on Monday.

Bolsonaro will be accompanied by a delegation of ministers, including Foreign Affairs Minister Ernesto Fraga Araujo, Minister Chief of Staff Jose Vicente Santini; Agriculture and Lifestock Minister Tereza Cristina Correa da Costa Dias; Mines and Energy Minister Admiral Bento Costa Lima Leite de Alburquerque Junior; Science, Technology, Communications and Innovation Minister Macros Cesar Pontes.

Other ministers who are part of the delegation include Minister Chief of the Secretariat of Government General Luiz Eduardo Ramos Baptista Pereira; Minister Chief of Institutional Security Office General Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira; Vice Minister for Foreign Trade and International Affairs Macros Prado Troyja; Vice Minister for the Investment Partnership Program Martha Seillier; and Vice Minister of Defence products (Ministry of Defense) Marcos Rosas Degaut.

President of Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brazil) Rear Admiral Sergio Ricardo Segovia Barbosa will also be part of the delegation.

This is the first state visit by Bolsonaro to India.

India-Brazil relations are based on a common global vision, shared democratic values, and a commitment to foster the economic growth of both countries.

"Bilateral relations were elevated to a Strategic Partnership in 2006, heralding a new phase in India-Brazil relations. The relations are strong not only at the bilateral level but also at plurilateral fora such as BRICS, IBSA, G-20 and in multilateral bodies particularly the UN," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.