India, Brazil set to sign pharma, aerospace, trade pacts during Lula visit

India and Brazil are poised to sign private-sector agreements across pharma, aerospace, ethanol and trade during President Lula's visit, as both nations expand cooperation in critical minerals and AI

India and Brazil are set to ink at least half a dozen agreements in the private sector, spanning pharmaceuticals, aeronautics, ethanol production and trade, during Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s ongoing visit to India, which concludes

on Sunday. 

The agreements in the private sector are likely to include one between Embraer and Adani Defence and Aerospace for the construction of an E175 aircraft final assembly line in India, and also between Brazilian and Indian pharmaceutical companies, including Biocon Biologics Limited and Lupin Limited. 

Under another agreement between ApexBrasil, the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency, and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), ApexBrasil will open its office in India. The Brazilian President is slated to inaugurate this office on the sidelines of a meeting of the India-Brazil business forum. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Brazilian President are scheduled to hold talks on Saturday in the national capital, and the two sides are also set to deepen cooperation on critical minerals and artificial intelligence. Brazil is also keen to increase its meat exports to India, especially chicken, while allowing imports of some Indian fruits and nuts, Brazil's Agriculture Ministry has said. Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of poultry. Brazil is likely to allow India to export pomegranates and macadamia nuts. 

Lula, a strong voice of the Global South along with Modi, is on a state visit to India and had attended the AI Impact Summit. He arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday evening on a three-day visit, his fourth to India as president of his country. He is accompanied by 14 of his ministers and a strong business delegation comprising top executives of Brazilian companies. 

Modi and Lula’s discussion would focus on cooperation in multilateral fora, reformed multilateralism, global governance and issues concerning the Global South. The two countries zhave set the target of increasing their bilateral trade to $20 billion by 2030 and expanding the India-MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement. Brazil is India’s largest trading partner in the Latin American region. India-Brazil bilateral trade in 2025 was $15 billion, an increase of almost 25 per cent over the previous year. 

Modi and Lula have been in constant touch ever since US President Donald Trump slapped both countries with 50 per cent tariffs. Modi visited Brazil in July, where the two agreed to work closely on defence, energy, food security, and to reduce “non-tariff barriers” to increase trade.