With eyes on trade deals and reform in global governance, Lula heads to India with 260 firms

Lula leads Brazil's largest-ever business delegation to India, aiming for trade deals and global governance reforms amidst geopolitical challenges.

Brazil is getting ready for the Carnival this weekend, when the country literally comes to a halt, but hectic preparations are underway in Brasilia for President Lula da Silva’s upcoming visit to India with a business delegation of 260 companies.

The largest-ever Brazilian delegation to India marks the culmination of the highest-level engagement between the two countries over the past few years — in a challenging geopolitical scenario. This could also be the Brazilian leader’s last major foreign engagement before Brazil gets into election mode for the presidential polls in October this year.

Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bilateral meeting with Lula in Brasilia in July 2025, when they discussed the expansion of bilateral trade, the Brazilian leader’s trip to New Delhi, from February 19 to 21, is being given top priority by the Brazilian government.

Celso Amorim, who serves as Lula’s principal foreign policy adviser, sees the visit as an opportunity for collaboration in strategic sectors between two emerging economies. “Cooperation between Brazil and India can be very broad, but I would highlight above all two domains: technology and defence,” Mr. Amorim told The Hindu.

“Brazil and India have developed, each in its own way, very important aspects of biotechnology too. In space science, India has given us a great example of how it is possible to achieve great accomplishments without necessarily resorting to the technology of the rich countries,” said Mr. Amorim, who has earlier served as Foreign Minister and Defence Minister under Presidents Lula and Dilma Rouseff, respectively.

Since the 2025 bilateral meeting, the Brazilian side has been working to strengthen its trade ties with India. Jorge Viana, head of the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex Brazil), told The Hindu that Lula asked him last year to put together a delegation as part of his efforts to expand commercial ties with India.