India, Brazil Push For UN Security Council Reforms As Foreign Ministers Meet In Delhi

As the chair of the G20 this year, Brazil hailed the successful Indian chairmanship of 2023, which opened up an opportunity for the Global South not only to be heard but also to proactively contribute to setting the world economic agenda for the upcoming years.

New Delhi: India and Brazil have called for a reformed United Nations, specifically for a more representative, effective, and legitimate UN Security Council. This comes after a meeting between the Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira and External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar at the 9th Meeting of the Brazil-India Joint Commission in New Delhi on Tuesday.

"Brazil and India, as vibrant, multi-ethnic democracies from the developing world, represent a positive drive to international affairs. Both our governments work towards achieving sustainable development and prosperity for our societies. We hold common views on many pressing issues of the global agenda", said the Brazilian Foreign Minister at the meeting.

"We both advocate for a reformed United Nations, in particular for a more representative, effective and legitimate UN Security Council. We are also close partners in international arrangements such as IBSA, BRICS, G20, G4, and BASIC", he added.

As the chair of the G20 this year, Brazil hailed the successful Indian chairmanship of 2023, which opened up an opportunity for the Global South not only to be heard but also to proactively contribute to setting the world economic agenda for the upcoming years. The Brazilian Foreign Minister added that President Lula would be glad to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro in November.

The strategic partnership between Brazil and India has led to rapid growth in cooperation across various sectors. In recent years, there has been a significant expansion in the bilateral agenda, encompassing promising areas such as digital governance, bioenergy, agriculture, and defense, among others.

Despite the challenges posed by the current international scenario, Indian trade flow has been growing steadily, reaching USD 12 billion in 2023. This makes India one of Brazil’s major trade partners, although there is still potential for further growth.

"There are opportunities to diversify our trade and increase the technological content of our exchanges, as well as to enhance the flow of bilateral investments. The India-Brazil Business Forum announced by our leaders last year will certainly create new opportunities for business and growth", the Brazilian foreign minister said.

"I had the opportunity to engage yesterday with an important group of Indian business people representing some of the major Indian companies, in a roundtable discussion with Brazilian private sector representatives. I would like to express my gratitude to all of them for the productive exchanges we had", he noted.

Throughout its nine editions, the Brazil-India Joint Commission has been instrumental in bringing both countries closer, as well as contributing to the diversification and strengthening of the relations between the two countries.

Both nations assessed the progress of bilateral initiatives and agreed on new priority areas to achieve better results in the future.