India–Brazil relations

Indo-Brazilian relations refers to the bilateral relations between the Federative Republic of Brazil and the Republic of India.

Brazil and India are large continental sized countries with social diversity, democratic governments, a multiethnic society, and a large population base. Both possess advanced technologies. The two countries share similar perceptions on issues of interest to developing countries and have cooperated in the multilateral level on issues such as international trade and development, environment, reform of the UN and the UNSC expansion. [ [http://www.indianembassy.org.br/eng/relations/political.htm Indian Embassy in Brazil: Bilateral Relations] ]

History

India’s links with Brazil go back five centuries. Portugal’s Pedro Alvares Cabral is officially recognised as the first European to “discover” Brazil in 1500. Cabral was sent to India by the King of Portugal soon after the return of Vasco da Gama from his pioneering journey. Cabral is reported to have been blown-off course on his way to India. Brazil became an important Portuguese colony and stop-over in the long journey to Goa. This Portuguese connection led to the exchange of several agricultural crops between India and Brazil in the colonial days. Indian cattle was also imported to Brazil. Most of the cattle in Brazil is of Indian origin.

Diplomatic relations between India and Brazil were established in 1948. The Indian Embassy opened in Rio de Janeiro on May 3, 1948, moving to Brasília on August 1, 1971.

Cultural relations

There is enormous interest in Brazil on India's culture, religion, performing arts and philosophy. A number of cultural events including performances by famous Kuchipudi dance group, "Raja and Radha Reddy" were organized in the major cities of Brazil ahead of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Brasília from 11-14 September, 2006. Earlier, a very successful Festival of India was organised during the visit of President K.R. Narayanan to Brazil in May 1998. There are numerous organisations teaching yoga and they invite yoga teachers from India for instructions and learning. ISKCON, Satya Sai Baba, Maharshi Mahesh Yogi, Bhakti Vedanta Foundation and other Indian spiritual gurus and organisations have their chapters in Brazil. The University of Londrina has a good specialization on India in its Afro-Asian studies department. Mahatma Gandhi is highly regarded in the country and the government has sought to teach his philosophy of non-violence to the police to improve its track record. A statue of Mahatma Gandhi is located in a prominent square in Rio de Janeiro. A group called the Filhos de Gandhi (Sons of Gandhi) participates regularly in the carnival in Salvador. Private Brazilian organizations occasionally invite Indian cultural troupes.

Economic relations

In recent years, relations between Brazil and India have grown considerably and co-operation between the two countries has been extended to such diverse areas as science and technology, pharmaceuticals and space. The two-way trade in 2007 nearly tripled to US$ 3.12 billion from US$ 1.2 billion in 2004. [ [http://www.indianembassy.org.br/eng/relations/ChartsUPDATE1.htm Indian Embassy in Brazil: Bilateral Trade Statistics] ]

India attaches tremendous importance to its relationship with this South American giant and hopes to see the areas of co-operation expand in the coming years.Fact|date=July 2008

Current issues

UNSC reform

Both countries want the participation of developing countries in the UNSC permanent membership since the underlying philosophy for both of them are: UNSC should be more democratic, legitimate and representative - the G4 is a novel grouping for this realization.

outh-South cooperation

Brazil and India are deeply committed to IBSA initiatives and attach utmost importance to this trilateral cooperation between the three large, multi-ethnic, multi-racial and multi-religious developing countries, which are bound by the common principle of pluralism and democracy.

The first ever IBSA Summit was held in Brasília in September 2006, followed by the Second IBSA Summit held in Pretoria in October 2007, with the third one to be held in Delhi in October 2008. Four IBSA Trilateral Commission meetings were already held till 2007 since the first one was held in 2004 and had covered many areas such as science, technology, education, agriculture, energy, culture, health, social issues, public administration and revenue administration. The target of US$10 billion in trade was already achieved by 2007.

Both countries view this as a tool of "transformation diplomacy" to bring economic growth, sustainable development, poverty reduction and regional prosperity in the vast regions of Latin America, Africa and Asia. The IBSA Fund for Alleviation of Poverty and Hunger has already provided funds for capacity building in East Timor and for the fight against HIV/AIDS in Burundi and has won the South-South Partnership Award at the 2006 UN Day event held in New York City on 19 December 2006. [ [http://www.indiaconsulate.org.br/arquivos/Bilateral%20Relations.pdf Consulate of India: Brazil & India bilateral relations] ]

References

See also

* IBSA

External links

* [http://www.brazilembassy.in/ Embassy of Brazil in India]
* [http://www.indianembassy.org.br/eng/default.htm Embassy of India in Brazil]
* [http://ibsa.nic.in/index.html IBSA Trilateral] India, Brazil South Africa Forum