New Delhi, Oct 15 (IANS) Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin will begin his two-day India visit on Wednesday to review bilateral trade and investment, and further strengthen the multifaceted Strategic Partnership, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has announced.

Alckmin, also Minister of Development, Industry, Trade and Services of Brazil, will hold the inaugural Trade Ministerial Review Meeting with Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Thursday (October 16).

The Brazilian Vice President is expected to be accompanied by Cabinet Ministers, Senior officials and a business delegation.

On Wednesday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will hold a meeting with Alckmin in New Delhi. Brazilian Defence Minister Jose Mucio Monteiro Filho will also be present during the interaction.

The leaders will review the entire range of multifaceted relations in the defence sector between the two countries. They will also exchange views on areas of mutual interest covering military-to-military and defence industrial cooperation.

During the visit, Alckmin is also scheduled to meet Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep S. Puri and discuss various issues of mutual interest.

Alckmin is also expected to attend the India-Brazil Business Forum and visit the All India Institute of Ayurveda.

According to the MEA, Brazil is the largest trade partner of India in South America. During the recent State visit of Prime Minister Modi to Brazil, the leaders agreed to establish a Ministerial-level Review Mechanism to foster trade and investment and set a bilateral trade target of $20 billion for the next five years.

“The visit of Alckmin is envisaged to provide an opportunity to review bilateral trade and investment, identify new priority sectors, set a road map towards achieving the trade target and further strengthen the multifaceted Strategic Partnership,” the ministry said.

This visit also comes just days after India and Brazil discussed a roadmap to take bilateral trade to $20 billion in five years during the seventh meeting of the India-Brazil Trade Monitoring Mechanism (TMM), which was held on October 7.

Rajesh Agrawal, Commerce Secretary, and Tatiana Lacerda Prazeres, Secretary of Foreign Trade at the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services for Brazil, co-chaired the meeting.

During the meeting in the national capital, both sides extensively discussed matters related to bilateral trade and outlined a roadmap for taking it forward.

The discussions included a review of bilateral trade and investment relations, expansion of India-MERCOSUR PTA, market access issues, visa issues, sectoral collaborations in pharmaceuticals and healthcare, chemicals and petrochemicals, MSME, banking and finance, promotion of industries and internal trade, multilateral issues and other matters of mutual interest.

During the State visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Brazil in July 2025 and meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the leaders set a target to increase bilateral trade to $20 billion over the next five years.

Brazil is India’s largest trading partner in the Latin American and Caribbean region. During the FY 2024-25, the bilateral merchandise trade stood at $12.19 billion.

India’s export story is clearly at a turning point. While the US will continue to be a vital partner, the extraordinary growth of exports to countries such as the Netherlands, UAE, Australia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Brazil, and Mexico demonstrates that India is no longer dependent on a single market.

–IANS

sd/dpb