NEW DELHI: Visiting Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said yesterday that the 21st century would belong to India, Brazil, Russia and China and they would rewrite the “economic geography” of the world.
Lula, on a four-day visit to India, said the US and European Union would eventually yield to the “great unity and power” shown by the developing countries in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks in the Mexican city of Cancun last September.
“The developing world gave an excellent example of solidarity in Cancun. We want to go on forging co-operation among ourselves to change the economic and trade geography of planet earth,” he told a business conference in New Delhi.
“The 21st century will belong to the developing countries – countries like India, Russia, Brazil and China and many others – who for so long were treated as second class citizens by the major trading blocks.”
India and Brazil are leaders among developing countries that banded together at the WTO talks in Cancun to press the developed world to phase out their farm subsidies.
“Either we believe in ourselves or we keep crying for the end of agricultural subsidies,” said Lula.
“They (developed world) will not come to our rescue if we keep crying. We have to be saved by our own strength. The moment we have business options they will come running after us. We will get what we have not got in 20 years.”
India, China, Brazil and other developing countries also opposed what they considered an accord forced on them by rich nations on such issues as trade, investment, competition and government spending.
“Let us engage in globalisation which is attentive to social and environmental concerns which is fairer both politically and economically,” said Lula.
“Neither India nor Brazil want to decrease their trade with the United States and the EU but those two major trading blocks have forced us to fight to keep new issues and obstacles off the multilateral trading agenda.”
Lula, who was chief guest at India’s Republic Day parade, also inked a landmark agreement with India and the Latin American trading bloc Mercosul.
“The signing of the preferential fixed tariff agreement between India and the Mercosul trading block of Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina will contribute to greater trade dynamism,” said Lula.
“India will get access to a common market of 220 million consumers.”
Six other agreements – on co-operation between space agencies and on visa arrangements, promoting tourism and increasing cultural exchanges – were signed on Sunday between Indian and Brazilian ministers.
An environmental co-operation pact was signed yesterday between the Confederation of Indian Industry and Brazil’s Confederation of Industry in the presence of Lula and Indian Commerce Minister Arun Jaitely.
“We do hope that trade between India and Brazil will open out with the signing of all these pacts,” Jaitley said after the environment pact was signed.
“Even at the peak of our relations our bilateral trade potential is grossly understated. We want it to increase to two billion dollars in 2004.”
Bilateral trade between India and Brazil stands at $1.2 billion, with Brazil’s exports ranging from soya and auto parts to sugar, while India exports diesel, pharmaceuticals and engineering goods. – AFP



photo:Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva addresses the Brazil-India business meeting in New Delhi yesterday. – AFP
Last update on: 28-1-2004