Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said India and Brazil are “two countries that are in need or in want.” He said no one is above the other country.
“The truth is that there’s a lot of similarity between Brazil and India in the attitude and in the needs. So when you sit down around a table with the business sector in India, when you have conversations with Prime Minister Modi or former Prime Minister Singh, there’s something very similar to our needs,” Lula said.
He added, “…it’s much easier for us to work and to establish an action plan, and to establish targets or goals and to build partnerships between Brazilian entrepreneurs and Indians and invite them to make investments in Brazil…”
‘I was surprised…’
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Sunday he was deeply moved by the musical tributes prepared by the Indian side. He said a gesture from his hosts on Saturday left a lasting impression on him and his delegation, serving as a poignant reminder of the hospitality he once extended to the Indian leader.
Speaking at the India-Brazil Economic Forum on Sunday, Lula recalled how these gestures mirrored a similar surprise he had arranged for Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the latter’s visit to Brazil.
“I was surprised yesterday, at the state dinner and at lunch too. I don’t know if the Brazilian journalists remember this, but when Prime Minister Modi went to visit Brazil last year, we did research on the song that he preferred most,” President Lula was quoted by news agency ANI as saying while addressing the forum in New Delhi.
“We went to São Paulo to try to find a singer who could sing the song that he enjoyed most. So we did a surprise for him at the Palacio da Alvorada in Brazil, and it was visible that he was touched by the song that we chose to play for him,” he said.
President Lula shared his delight at hearing familiar Brazilian melodies played by Indian musicians during his official engagements, bridging the geographical distance between the two nations through music.
“Yesterday, I was surprised because during lunch we started to hear a song. I saw that that song had something to do with us. Then they played other songs from the Brazilian composers. They played Asa Branca,” President Lula remarked.
The mention of Asa Branca, an iconic Brazilian folk song, underlined the growing cultural synergy between the two nations as they seek to strengthen their strategic partnership.
‘For the very first time…’
Lula da Silva on Sunday described his current visit as having a “characteristic that is very special” while recalling how his 2005 trip to India fundamentally reshaped Brazil’s economic strategy.
He highlighted the deep cultural and financial ties between the two nations, noting that India served as the inspiration for Brazil’s massive build-up of international hard currency reserves.
Reflecting on that turning point, President Lula stated, “It was in India in 2005 that, for the very first time, I perceived the importance of having international hard currency reserves.”
“I came here, my first trip, and India had accrued USD 100 billion in international hard currency reserves. I came back to Brazil convinced that we needed to build up our international reserves, and we had to have an extra buffer,” he said.
The Brazilian President, in his address to the India-Brazil Economic Forum in New Delhi, further explained the long-term impact of that policy shift, noting, “We managed to do that for the very first time.”
“We left that position of debtors of the IMF to the creditors of the IMF. We accrued reserves of international hard currencies of USD 360 billion. That was the third or fourth largest international reserve in the world in those days,” he said.
‘Reclaim the image’
Contextualising the visit within Brazil’s broader diplomatic priorities, President Lula asserted, “We are closing a cycle of international trips that was within our strategy for this third term to reclaim the image and the negotiation power that Brazil had achieved in the world. Now we decided to recover and retrieve the Image of Brazil in the world.”
Highlighting the outcomes of that strategy, President Lula stated, ”It’s with great satisfaction that I can say to all of you that in just 3 years and 2 months of my term, we did more. We created 520 new markets for Brazilian goods. It’s much more than we could have imagined such a short time.
Lula visits India
The Brazilian President arrived in India on February 18. During the period February 19-20, he participated in the India AI Impact Summit.
This marks Lula’s fifth visit to India as President of Brazil, further solidifying a relationship that has seen rapid momentum in recent months.
Indeed, this visit comes just seven months after the state visit of PM Modi to Brasilia on July 8, 2025, highlighting a period of intense diplomatic activity between the two partners.
