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India, Brazil sign pact on defence ties

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI DEC. 1. India and Brazil signed an agreement on defence cooperation this evening following delegation level talks and a meeting earlier in the day between the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, and his Brazilian counterpart, Jose Vieges Filho. The agreement lays special emphasis on cooperation in the aeronautical and defence fields, including shipbuilding.

During the delegation level talks, it was decided to set up a working group or mechanism, wherein concrete proposals on the defence industry and military-to-military cooperation would be formulated.Other proposals that were discussed were jungle warfare, jungle survival training and integrated air defence management.Brazil has a well developed aeronautical and defence industry and a well-established air defence surveillance system. Cooperation is being visualised in co-production and co-development in the area of aeronautics, shipbuilding systems and sub-systems such as software, avionics and ordnance.

During the talks, Mr. Fernandes referred to the indigenous efforts in developing the light combat aircraft, the advanced light helicopter and the advanced jet trainer. He invited Brazil to participate in the coming Defence Expo in February 2004.

Besides the physical distance, there were barriers of political culture between the two countries in the past.

However, the meeting between the Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, and the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, at the G-8 summit this year, followed by the visits of the Indian External Affairs and Defence Ministers to Brazil has helped thaw bilateral relations considerably said official sources.

The Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee and Chief of the Naval Staff, Madhvendra Singh, the Chief of the Air Staff, S. Krishnaswamy, and the Deputy Army Chief, J.B.S. Yadav, also called on Mr. Filho.The Brazilian Minister, who arrived on Sunday, is slated to meet the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, on Tuesday.

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