Brazil confers country's highest national honour on Modi

The award was conferred upon him by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Prime Minister Modi expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the President, the Government, and the people of Brazil for the distinguished honour.

Accepting the award, he noted that the honour was a tribute to the 1.4 billion people of India, and to the enduring bonds of friendship between India and Brazil.

He further stated that President Lula was the architect of India-Brazil Strategic Partnership, and the award was as much an honour to his untiring efforts to take the bilateral ties to greater heights.

Modi and President Lula held talks in restricted and delegation level formats and discussed all aspects of the multifaceted Strategic Partnership between India and Brazil.

They reaffirmed the shared values that underpin the warm and friendly India-Brazil relations.

"The leaders discussed cooperation in the areas of trade and investment, defence and security, health and pharmaceuticals, space, renewable energy, agriculture and food processing, energy security, infrastructure development, digital public infrastructure and UPI, traditional medicine, yoga, sporting links, culture and people-to-people ties," read a statement issued by the Indian government giving details about the meeting.

They also explored avenues for collaboration in the new areas of cooperation such as critical minerals, new and emerging technologies, AI and supercomputers, digital collaboration and mobility.

Both leaders welcomed the establishment of a ministerial-level mechanism to discuss trade and commercial matters.

India-MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement 

They discussed strengthening bilateral trade, including expansion of the India-MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement.

The leaders set a target to increase bilateral trade to USD 20 billion over the next five years.

Taking stock of the ongoing cooperation in the energy sector, the two leaders agreed to explore investment opportunities as there exist immense potential in the hydrocarbon as well as renewable energy sectors in both countries.

Pahalgam Terror Attack

Modi thanked Brazil for its solidarity and support extended to India in the aftermath of the barbaric terrorist attack in Pahalgam in April 2025.

This underscores the strong commitment of both countries to countering terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations.

Prime Minister Modi emphasised that there should be zero tolerance on terrorism and those promoting such inhuman acts must be dealt with firmly. President Lula agreed that the two countries must work together and with the global community to fight and defeat terrorism.

Both leaders also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest. They reaffirmed their commitment to multilateralism and reform of global governance institutions, including the UN Security Council.

They also agreed to work together to strengthen global action to deal with climate change.

The Prime Minister conveyed his wishes to Brazil for the forthcoming COP30 climate change conference. They agreed to continue working closely to advance the interests of the Global South.

Following the talks, six MoUs in the fields of counter terrorism, exchange of information in the security domain, agricultural research, renewable energy, Intellectual Property Rights and digital cooperation [India Stack] were finalized.