PM Modi meets Brazilian President Bolsonaro, holds bilateral talks

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro here and discussed ways to strengthen bilateral ties. Modi, who is in Brazil for the 11th BRICS Summit which will focus on building mechanisms for counter-terrorism cooperation and strengthen India's ties with the world's five major economies, met Bolsonaro on the sidelines of the meeting.

They discussed ways to enhance the bilateral strategic partnership. The two leaders are meeting over four months after they met in Osaka, Japan for the two-day G20 Summit during which Modi congratulated Bolsonaro on being elected as the President of Brazil and welcomed him in the BRICS family.

Modi and Bolsonaro held wide-ranging discussions on bilateral relationship, specially cooperation in trade and investment, agriculture and bio-fuels in the context of climate change, deepening the "close and multifaceted" strategic partnership. The Brazilian President, who was elected in January, announced last month that Indian tourists would be exempted from visas to enter Brazil for tourism or business.

"There will be no reciprocity in the beginning. (The) US, Australia, Japan and Canada are already exempt from short-term tourist and business visas. The next country should be India," he was quoted as saying by Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo. Last week, media reports in New Delhi said that Prime Minister Modi, during his two-day visit to Brazil, may invite Bolsonaro to be the chief guest at Republic Day celebrations next year, in a bid to expand India's outreach to South America.