Rio de Janeiro, July 7 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the President of Bolivia, Luis Arce Catacora, on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Monday.

The two leaders reviewed bilateral cooperation and expressed satisfaction with the progress achieved, and discussed cooperation in critical minerals, trade and commerce, Digital Public Infrastructure and UPI, health and pharmaceuticals, traditional medicine, small and medium industries, training, and capacity building.

Both leaders recognised the potential for enhanced collaboration in the critical minerals sector and for developing sustainable and mutually beneficial partnerships in the field.

They expressed satisfaction over the ongoing development cooperation between the two countries, including through Quick Impact Projects and capacity-building initiatives under the ITEC scholarship programmes.

The Prime Minister expressed solidarity with the people of Bolivia in the wake of the severe flooding that occurred in March-April 2025 in La Paz and several other parts of the country.

He also congratulated Bolivia for joining the International Solar Alliance.

Prime Minister conveyed his warm greetings to the people and Government of Bolivia on the occasion of the country’s bicentennial celebration, marking 200 years of independence on 6th August 2025.

PM Modi has earlier visited Brazil on three occasions, the first in July 2014, followed by another visit in 2019 to attend the BRICS summit, and in November last year to attend the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro.

On this occasion, Prime Minister Modi will be arriving in Brasilia after attending the two-day 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, where he also held a number of bilateral meetings with leaders of Latin American countries, as India continues to reach out to the world.

Before leaving for the ongoing five-nation visit, PM Modi had expressed confidence that his visits to the countries will reinforce India’s bonds of friendship across the Global South, strengthen partnerships on both sides of the Atlantic, and deepen engagements in the multilateral platforms such as BRICS, the African Union, ECOWAS and the CARICOM.

–IANS

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