Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks in New Delhi on Saturday, February 21, focusing on defense cooperation and natural resources. The meeting, which followed a global AI summit, underscores a strategic push by two leading nations of the Global South to deepen their partnership.

The meeting seeks to secure the supply of rare earths and strategic minerals, an essential step for the expansion of India’s semiconductor and electric vehicle industries in the face of China’s dominance in the sector.

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With vast reserves of critical minerals second only to those of China, Brazil aims to become a key enabler of India’s high-tech sector ambitions while expanding trade ties that officials project will grow by upwards of $5 billion in the coming period.

On the defense front, Brazilian aerospace giant Embraer and Indian conglomerate Adani Group are expected to sign an agreement for the local production of up to 90 E175 aircraft on Indian soil.

Modi and Lula seek to raise bilateral trade to $20 billion by the year 2030, after having surpassed $15 billion in the 2025 fiscal year, consolidating a key cooperation axis for the Global South.

Lula arrived in the Indian capital last Wednesday to participate in the AI 2026 Impact Summit, which brought together more than 20 international leaders and where the Brazilian president had a special role advocating for “AI at the service of society,” against technological monopoly and stripped of “digital colonialism” in emerging nations.

The Brazilian president heads a record delegation of more than 260 companies and 14 ministers, the largest trade mission in the history of Brazilian diplomacy.

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