New Delhi: India is preparing to make a major move in global trade. The country is negotiating an expansion of its preferential trade agreement with Mercosur, the South American trading bloc that includes Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. The present agreement, which began on June 1, 2009, covers only 450 products. Both sides are now considering converting it into a full-fledged trade pact.
Sharing the details on Saturday, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal described Mercosur as a highly important region for India. He said that bilateral trade between India and Brazil has been growing but still falls short of expectations.
In 2025, trade between the two countries rose by 25 percent, surpassing $15 billion. He emphasised the need for more ambitious targets. Brazil is India’s largest trading partner in the Latin America and Caribbean region.
Trade ties are expanding across defense, energy, agriculture and agrochemicals, while collaboration is also increasing in healthcare, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy, critical minerals, defense and aviation.
Goyal invited Brazilian businesses to explore investment opportunities in India.
Speaking at a FICCI event, he highlighted India’s path to becoming the world’s third-largest economy within the next two years, surpassing Germany. He attributed this growth to improvements in taxation, logistics, manufacturing, digital infrastructure and trade facilitation.
Goyal pointed to Brazil’s rich natural resources such as niobium, lithium and iron ore as critical for future technology and global energy transition. He also said the rapid development of Brazil’s aerospace, automotive and digital technology sectors, which offer ample opportunities for collaboration.
He said India and Brazil together can revamp global supply chains, leveraging resources, innovation and forward-thinking strategies.
The two countries set an annual bilateral trade target of $20 billion for the next five years. They also signed an agreement to strengthen cooperation in key mineral sectors. The agreements followed extensive discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
President Silva emphasised the enormous potential to expand trade between the two nations. He said that while present growth is positive, it is modest given the size of India and Brazil. He highlighted that both countries are now looking beyond Europe, the United States, Japan and China, projecting that bilateral trade could reach $30 billion.
The Brazilian president also stressed the deep political, economic, cultural, scientific and technological integration potential between India and Brazil. He added that extending business visas for trade interns from five to ten years would further support this cooperation.
