Joint Communiqué issued on the occasion of the visit of H.E. Mr. Celso Amorim to India from 10-13 April, 2007

          The Minister of External Relations of the Federative Republic of Brazil, H.E. Mr. Celso Amorim, accompanied by a large high-level delegation made an official visit to New Delhi on 10-13  April, 2007 at the invitation of  Shri Pranab Mukherjee, External Affairs Minister of India.

          During the visit, Minister Celso Amorim was received by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, to whom he handed over a personal message of the President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, on his forthcoming Presidential visit to India.  Minister Celso Amorim also met  Minister of State for External Affairs, Shri Anand Sharma, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Kamal Nath and the National Security Advisor, Shri  M.K. Narayanan.

          Ministers Celso Amorim and  Pranab Mukherjee  co-chaired the  Third Meeting of  India-Brazil Joint Commission. 

          In the Joint Commission Meeting, the two sides examined the wide spectrum of topics of bilateral cooperation and acknowledged  the outstanding level of understanding between the two countries.

          They recognised the over-arching potentiality of Indian-Brazilian relations  covering areas such as commerce and services ; scientific, technologic and cultural cooperation ; technical standards ; phyto-sanitary protection; and human  settlements and expressed the desire of both Governments to further strengthen and deepen the bonds of friendship between them.

          Both sides emphasized the importance of a close coordination between the  two countries in international trade negotiations, in particular at the World Trade Organization (WTO).  They recognized the urgent need to successfully complete  the Doha Round to strengthen  the multilateral trading system that  is responsive to the developmental aspirations of developing countries. The Ministers reiterated the commitment of the Brazilian and the Indian Governments to continue working together in the G-20.

          The Ministers reaffirmed  their commitment to the ongoing                            G-4 initiatives to closely coordinate efforts towards realizing  the necessary expansion of the Security Council in both the  permanent and non-permanent categories, including developing countries as new permanent members.

          They reaffirmed the IBSA Dialogue Forum as an important mechanism for political consultations and coordination as well as for strengthening cooperation in sectoral areas and to improve economic relations among India, Brazil and South Africa.  In this regard, the two Ministers  look forward to the Fourth Meeting of the Trilateral Ministerial Commission to be held in New Delhi as well as to the Second IBSA Summit to be held in South Africa.

          They welcomed the substantial increase of bilateral trade in recent years and  agreed to endeavour to take it to a level of 10 billion dollars by 2010. In this context, they emphasized   the importance of creating effective mechanisms to diversify exports   both ways and to promote mutual investments, as well as to increase the exchange  of trade delegations.  They agreed to encourage the expansion and deepening of the Preferential Trade Agreement between Mercosul and India by including new products of interest of both sides, to further widen the scope of the Agreement.  They reaffirmed their willingness to participate in discussions leading to a trilateral negotiating process involving Mercosul, India and SACU. 

          The two Ministers expressed their satisfaction with the close cooperation between the delegations of both countries at the working level discussions of the Outreach Countries of the G-8 on intellectual property, cross-border investment, energy, climate change and development in Africa that took place in New Delhi, on April 11, 2007.

          Both sides welcomed the recent launch of the Bio-fuels Forum. Minister Celso Amorim renewed the commitment of his Government to intensify the exchange of information with India on the Brazilian Bio-fuel Program. Both Ministers expressed their interest to further bilateral cooperation under the Work Program created by the Memorandum of Understanding on Technological Cooperation in the Area of Mixing Ethanol with Gasoline, signed in 2002.  They attached importance to the launching of the International Forum on Bio-fuels, in New York, in March 2007. In this regard, the Ministers pledged that Brazil and India shall work together to set up an international market for ethanol fuel, so as to decrease international dependence on fossil fuels and to favor the use of clean energies.

          They welcomed the agreement between Petrobras and  Indian companies to explore, produce and trade oil, gas and derivates in Brazil, India and third countries. They noted the investment in an off-shore oilfield in Campos Basin by ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) and welcomed further proposal.

          The two sides   expressed satisfaction with the ongoing  agricultural cooperation in areas such as research and development, phyto-sanitary measures, plant health and animal health and agreed to expand  them further.

The two sides also reiterated interest in strengthening scientific and technological  cooperation and joint research programmes with India in the fields of biotechnology, information technology, pharmaceuticals, HIV/AIDS and tropical diseases, with emphasis on  the elimination of tuberculosis and malaria epidemics.

Noting the potential for mutually beneficial co-operation in space research the two sides agreed to exchange visits and identify concrete areas of co-operation.

The Ministers noted with satisfaction the positive developments achieved by the Indo-Brazil Science Council and the perspectives to further enhance bilateral cooperation under the S&T Agreement signed in September, 2006.  They expressed support for the creation of a Joint Industrial Research  Programme in selected areas of mutual interest.

The Brazilian side expressed its interest in deepening the dialogue with Indian counterparts on policy issues related to information society and invited the Indian Government to attend the II Internet Governance Forum to be held in  Rio de Janeiro, from 12-15 November, 2007.

Recognizing the importance of educational cooperation to strengthen the bonds between Brazil and India at the present stage of the relations between the two nations, the Ministers stressed the importance  to  the Bilateral Exchange Programme of Cooperation in the Area of Education, signed in February, 2006. Furthermore, they stressed their common interest in strengthening cooperation between Indian and Brazilian higher education institutions, and reaffirmed the priority given to the areas of post-graduate studies, research, professional education and in the field of information and communication technologies applied to education.    

They gave emphasis to the ongoing cultural initiatives as a means of promoting mutual knowledge and understanding between their peoples, and in this regard they stressed the importance of an adequate implementation of the projected Cultural Weeks in both countries. They reaffirmed the commitment of their Governments to continue cooperation in the areas established in the Programme of Cultural Exchange for the period of 2006-07. They agreed on the importance of the Memorandum of Understanding for Cinematographic Co-Production to further bilateral projects in the areas of movie production. They encouraged the exchange of professors and university students between Brazil and India.

The Ministers welcomed the decision to establish the Joint Defence Committee and to nominate Military Attaches to the diplomatic missions in both countries, in order to establish a direct channel of dialogue between  Brazilian and Indian military authorities, and strengthen the Indo-Brazilian strategic dialogue.

Minister Celso Amorim invited Minister Pranab Mukherjee to visit Brazil at his earliest convenience. Minister Pranab Mukherjee accepted the invitation. Dates will be settled  through diplomatic channels.

Recalling the decision taken by the President of Brazil and the Prime Minister of India in September, 2006 to upgrade the relations to a “Strategic Partnership”  the two sides welcomed the commencement of the strategic dialogue which took place between Foreign Minister Celso Amorim and National Security Advisor, Shri M.K. Narayanan, on 12 April, 2007.

          Both sides also utilized the opportunity provided by Foreign Minister Amorim’s visit to discuss issues relating to bilateral trade as well as efforts underway to successfully conclude the Doha Round of  Multilateral Trade Negotiations.

          Both sides welcomed the comprehensive meetings  that took place during Foreign Minister  Amorim’s visit,   as preparatory to the forthcoming State  Visit of the President of  Brazil to India. 

The Minister of External  Relations of  Brazil expressed sincere thanks to the Government of the Republic of India for the friendly and warm reception that was extended to him and to all members of his delegation on the occasion of his visit.

New Delhi, 13^th April 2007