By Manoj Kumar and Mayank Bhardwaj
NEW DELHI, Feb 21 (Reuters) - India moved to deepen trade ties with Brazil on Saturday, signing a pact to expand cooperation in mining and minerals as it seeks to meet rising domestic steel demand and support capacity expansion amid a global race for raw materials.
The agreement was signed in the presence of India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who arrived in New Delhi earlier this week for a three-day visit.
Brazil is among the world's top producers of iron ore and holds large reserves of minerals critical to steelmaking. Closer cooperation is expected to improve India's access to raw materials and technologies needed to sustain long-term growth in its steel sector, an Indian government statement said.
INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT
The cooperation will focus on attracting investment in exploration, mining and steel sector infrastructure, the statement said.
India has steelmaking capacity of 218 million metric tons, and companies are expanding output to meet rising domestic demand driven by infrastructure development and industrialisation.
Addressing a meeting with a Brazilian delegation led by Lula, Modi said their talks had focused on ways to deepen the India-Brazil trade partnership.
"We are committed to taking bilateral trade much beyond $20 billion in the next five years," Modi said.
Bilateral trade between the two countries currently stands at about $15 billion.
"Our nations will also work closely in areas such as technology, innovation, digital public infrastructure, AI, semiconductors and more," Modi said.
LARGEST TRADING PARTNER IN LATIN AMERICA
India and Brazil have been strategic partners since 2006, with cooperation spanning trade, defence, energy, agriculture, health, critical minerals, technology and digital infrastructure.
Brazil is India's largest trading partner in the Latin America and Caribbean region, and the two countries work closely on global issues such as U.N. reform, climate change and counter-terrorism.
Lula on Thursday advocated for Brazil and India to conduct trade in their own currencies rather than settling transactions in U.S. dollars, but dismissed speculation that the BRICS group of countries, of which both nations are members, would create a common currency.
(Reporting by Manoj Kumar and Mayank Bhardwaj; Editing by Jan Harvey)
