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India, Brazil consolidate strategic ties

Special Correspondent

Reiterate common stand on climate change, U.N. reform, WTO

NEW DELHI: In a joint declaration days ahead of the G-8 summit to which they have both been invited as "outreach" partners, India and Brazil blamed "unsustainable production and consumption patterns in the developed world" for the problem of climate change and said perpetuation of poverty in developing countries was not the solution.

That formulation — on a subject the G-8 is going to focus much of its time on — runs counter to efforts by the United States and some of its G-8 partners to shift the burden of adjustment on to fast-growing developing countries like India, Brazil and China. Officials say the clear stand on climate change, as well as on world trade and United Nations reform, underscores the degree to which New Delhi and Brasilia have begun to build a joint approach to global issues.

The `Red Fort Declaration' issued Monday night by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil was the product of the third summit in as many years between the two countries.

With the India-Brazil joint commission's meeting in April setting out an ambitious agenda for the bilateral relationship — apart from cooperation in civil nuclear energy and space, both sides want to boost two-way trade from the current annual level of $2.6 billion to more than $10 billion by 2010 — the two countries on Monday signed a number of agreements aimed at implementing that roadmap.

Among these were protocols for cooperation in the oil sector, film and audiovisual co-production, space, customs matters, academic exchanges and economic research. These agreements build on earlier agreements dealing with biofuel, pharmaceuticals and cooperation in other sectors.

In the oil sector, for example, ONGC Videsh Ltd and Petrobras, Brazil's national oil company, agreed to swap stakes in three offshore exploration blocks.

Dr. Singh and President Lula also held talks on a wide range of international issues, including United Nations reform, world trade negotiations and climate change.

The presence in Lula's delegation of more than 100 business executives underscored the new economic content that both countries are seeking to give to the old vector of South-South cooperation.

In his address to a gathering of Indian and Brazilian CEOs, the Brazilian President exhorted them to push bilateral trade beyond the target of $10 billion. "Don't give me excuses. India and Brazil can do more than $10 billion bilateral trade by 2010... No distance can diminish the appetite of a bold entrepreneur for trade. India today is a land of opportunity. So is Brazil," he said.

Mr. Lula said the time had come for India and Brazil to consolidate their strategic partnership. "The 21st century will be the century of opportunity for India and Brazil," he declared, adding, "India and Brazil are being recognised as key players in the international scene. Our interests converge in multilateral forums."

In his speech at a banquet in honour of President Lula, President Kalam said India and Brazil could cooperate in a number of fields including the development of a 100-seater passenger jet "using the core competencies of both our countries in the field of aerospace." Such a jointly developed passenger jet could then be marketed worldwide.

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