PM Modi leaves for Namibia after concluding Brazil visit
Mr. Modi is on a five-nation visit, and Namibia will be his last stop.
In Brasilia, PM Modi held "productive talks" with President Lula, the Prime Minister's Office said in a post on X.
Held fruitful talks with President Lula, who has always been passionate about India-Brazil friendship. Our talks included ways to deepen trade ties and also diversify bilateral trade. We both agree that there is immense scope for such linkages to thrive in the coming times.… pic.twitter.com/Bn8w5BCm2X — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 8, 2025
The discussions focused on diversifying trade ties, as well as expanding cooperation in clean energy, sustainable development and mitigating climate change. The leaders also agreed to deepen collaboration in defence, security, agriculture, space, semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI) and Digital Public Infrastructure, it said.
Prime Minister Modi in a post on X also said that he held "fruitful talks with President Lula, who has always been passionate about India-Brazil friendship".
"Our talks included ways to deepen trade ties and also diversify bilateral trade. We both agree that there is immense scope for such linkages to thrive in the coming times," he said.
During the visit, India and Brazil also inked agreements to bolster cooperation in several areas.
The Prime Minister on Tuesday (July 8, 2025) was also conferred with Brazil's highest civilian award, the Grand Collar of the National Order of the Southern Cross.
The honour was presented by President Lula in recognition of PM Modi's notable contributions to strengthening bilateral relations and enhancing India-Brazil cooperation across key global platforms.
On Monday (July 7, 2025), Prime Minister Modi attended the BRICS summit, during which he said that nations must work together to make supply chains for critical minerals and technology secure and ensure that no country uses these resources for its own "selfish gain" or as a "weapon" against others.
BRICS, consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has been expanded with five additional members: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
7 minutes ago
- First Post
PM Modi gets a 'Ram Bhajan' welcome in Brazil before official talks
PM Modi was warmly welcomed in Brasilia with a special Ram Bhajan performance at the Alvorada Palace before holding talks with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. read more Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a warm welcome at the Alvorada Palace in Brasilia, where he was greeted with a special performance of a Ram Bhajan before his official talks with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The Indian External Affairs Ministry shared a video of the performance on social media, showing classical singer Meeta Ravindra Kumar Karahe singing a devotional song as Modi arrived. Modi, accompanied by President Lula, appeared to enjoy the music, smiling and softly clapping along. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Upon arrival at the Alvorada Palace in Brasilia ahead of official talks, PM @narendramodi was welcomed with a special performance of 'Ram Bhajan'. — Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) July 8, 2025 Speaking to IANS, Meeta said she had briefly met Modi the previous evening and told him she would be singing for him. She shared that the Brazilian government invited her to perform because President Lula wanted someone from Modi's home country to sing a devotional song he would appreciate. Meeta described Brazilians as similar to Indians in their warmth and hospitality and said Brazil feels like a 'second India' to her. She has been trained in classical music since the age of 10 or 11. Earlier on Tuesday, President Lula officially welcomed PM Modi to Brasilia during Modi's state visit, following his participation in the BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro. During their talks, the two leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation between India and Brazil across various sectors. Modi praised President Lula as the 'Chief Architect of the Strategic Partnership' between the two countries and credited him with deepening ties. On social media, Modi shared that their discussions covered trade, clean energy, sustainable development, climate change, defence, security, artificial intelligence, and agriculture. He said India and Brazil would also work more closely in areas like space, semiconductors, and digital public infrastructure. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD At a joint press statement, PM Modi thanked President Lula for the warm hospitality and said being honoured with Brazil's highest national award was a moment of great pride for him and for the people of India. Modi dedicated the award to President Lula's commitment to India-Brazil friendship and to strengthening ties between the two nations.
News18
13 minutes ago
- News18
PM Modi Conferred With Brazil's Highest Civilian Award, His 26th Global Award
Last Updated: PM Modi was on Tuesday conferred with Brazil's highest civilian award, the Grand Collar of the National Order of the Southern Cross. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Tuesday conferred with Brazil's highest civilian award, the Grand Collar of the National Order of the Southern Cross. The honour was presented by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. PM Modi was conferred the award for his notable contributions to strengthening bilateral relations and enhancing India-Brazil cooperation across key global platforms. PM Modi, in a social media post, said the award illustrates the strong affection the people of Brazil have for the people of India. 'May our friendship scale even newer heights of success in the times to come," he said. I'm honoured to have been conferred 'The Grand Collar of the National Order of the Southern Cross.' Gratitude to President Lula, the Government and the people of Brazil. This illustrates the strong affection the people of Brazil have for the people of India. May our friendship… — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 8, 2025 'Being honoured with Brazil's highest national award by the President today is a moment of immense pride and emotion, not only for me, but also for 140 crore Indians," Modi said during a joint press statement with Lula after their delegation-level talks. 'I express my heartfelt gratitude to him (President Lula), the Brazilian government, and the people of Brazil," he said. Modi further termed President Lula the architect of India-Brazil Strategic Partnership and stated that the award was as much an honour to his untiring efforts to take the bilateral ties to greater heights, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a press release. The Prime Minister underlined that the accolade would inspire the people of the two countries to further deepen their warm and friendly ties, it said. This is the 26th international honour bestowed upon PM Modi by a foreign government since he assumed office in May 2014. First Published: July 09, 2025, 07:08 IST
Mint
25 minutes ago
- Mint
How Trump's trade deals take aim at China
In the first cold war between America and the Soviet Union, the two superpowers fought each other by proxy. Something similar is happening in America's trade war with China. After conciliatory talks in Geneva and London, the two sides are no longer bashing each other with new tariffs. Instead, America is waging its war indirectly, through unfortunate third countries. Its new deal with Vietnam and its fresh tariff threats issued to many other countries seem designed to reduce China's role in their supply chain. Countries that had hoped to stay out of the new cold war now fear they are being forced to pick a side. To appease the world's biggest market, they must anger the world's biggest trader. On July 7th Donald Trump, America's president, sent letters to Japan, South Korea and a dozen other trading partners pushing back the deadline for their trade talks from July 9th to August 1st and tweaking the tariffs they will face if talks fail. Japan and South Korea, for example, will incur tariffs of 25%. Cambodia will be clobbered with tariffs of 36%; Myanmar and Laos face 40%. The letters also said that any goods 'transshipped" from elsewhere would face the higher tariffs they were seeking to avoid. Although China was not named, no one was in any doubt about the elsewhere Mr Trump had in mind. The president also threatened to place an extra 10% tariff on countries aligning themselves with the 'anti-American policies" of the BRICS group, established in 2009 by China alongside Brazil, Russia, India and later South Africa. He has previously warned it not to try to dethrone the dollar as the world's dominant currency. America's deal with Vietnam will apparently slap 20% tariffs on most of the Asian country's goods. Ominously, it will also impose 40% tariffs on 'any transshipping". The deal follows one struck with Britain on May 8th. It promised to treat British aluminium, drugs and steel favorably if Britain ensured the security of its supply chains to America's satisfaction. That is assumed to mean buying fewer inputs from China and allowing American scrutiny of Chinese-owned plants in the country. Offering favours to one country if it imposes penalties on another is 'something new" in trade negotiations, note Achyuth Anil at the University of Sussex and co-authors. The innovation has not escaped China's attention. China firmly opposes any country making trade deals at the expense of its interests, the Ministry of Commerce has said. 'China will not accept it and will take resolute countermeasures." Countries must 'remain on the right side of history". China does not yet know precisely what it is up against. Mr Trump's team has not clarified what it means by transshipment. But it is clearly concerned China will try to evade the tariffs it faces by serving America's market via other countries. During Mr Trump's first trade war, China exported fewer products to America and more to countries like Mexico and Vietnam. These countries, in turn, exported more goods to America. A similar pattern recurred this year after Mr Trump imposed sweeping 'reciprocal" tariffs in April. Although China's exports to America plunged by over 34% in May, against a year earlier, its overall exports continued to grow. Many of the countries that bought more stuff from China also sold more to America. This is not itself proof of any tariff-hopping. Countries could be buying and selling unrelated goods. Those enjoying bumper exports to America might have bought other things from the world's second-biggest economy. Australia, for example, exported $133m more in frozen beef to America in April and May than a year earlier. It also bought $186m more in lorries from China. Australian firms were not relabelling the trucks as beef. Thus it pays to study the figures product by product. Cambodia sold an extra $26m of sweaters to America in April and May, having increased its sweater imports from China by over double that amount. Thailand sold $42m more car parts to America, having bought $114m more from China. We have added up all such extra exports. The totals were nearly $2bn for Vietnam, followed by Thailand ($1.8bn), India ($1.6bn) and Taiwan ($1.1bn). Some of these flows may represent legal'trade diversion", says Leah Fahy of Capital Economics, a consultancy. High tariffs could have priced Chinese firms out of the American market. Rivals inThailand and Vietnam could have rushed to take their place, leaving a gap in these countries' home market, which Chinese firms filled. In such a scenario,the goods arriving from China would not be the same ones leaving for America. They would just belong to the same statistical it seemsunlikely this kind of diversion explains all the extra exports. The Trump administration is probably also worried about imports from Thailand, Vietnam and elsewhere that include parts, materials or components from China. Under existing rules, these goods are not considered Chinese so long as they have been 'substantially transformed" elsewhere. What counts as a substantial transformation varies from product to product. Chinese flour is transformed when baked into a cake. The same is true of fabric cut and stitched into a shirt. Assembling Chinese parts counts if the assembly is 'meaningful and complex". In one case, America's border authorities decided that a piece of exercise equipment had been substantially transformed from its Chinese parts, because the parts had to be welded, degreased, sprayed with clear coat, and assembled in as many as 255 steps. Mr Trump may abandon this qualitative standard for a quantitative one. America's trade agreements often require that a certain percentage of a product's value originates in a country before it can be said to be 'made" there. In this scenario, notes Ted Murphy of Sidley Austin, a law firm, Vietnam would face tariffs of 40% on goods that have been substantially transformed in the country, but still contain too much Chinese content in American eyes. If the new threshold is demanding, the results could be troubling for Vietnam. The country's manufacturers depend on China for parts and components, a reliance that has increased sharply since Mr Trump's first trade war. China contributed 6% of the value of Vietnamese exports serving the American market for manufactures in 2017, according to Natixis, a bank. That figure had jumped to 16% by 2022. Vietnamese officials must hope that Mr Trump has something narrower in mind: what Caroline Freund at the University of California, San Diego, calls 'the China wash". This refers to goods from China relabelled as 'made in Vietnam", even though they are largely unchanged. Peter Navarro, one of Mr Trump's advisers, has complained that 'China uses Vietnam to transship to evade the tariffs…They slap a made-in-Vietnam label on it and they send it here." According to Mr Navarro, the China wash accounts for a third of Vietnam's exports to America. A better estimate by Ms Freund suggests the share peaked at less than 8% in 2020, and has since fallen. Relabelling may annoy Mr Navarro, but it is also already illegal. Anyone engaging in it risks penalties far worse than a 40% tariff. Last year a Florida couple earned over four years in prison for illegally importing Chinese plywood, sometimes reboxed in Malaysia or Sri Lanka. They even had to pay the government for the cost of storing the wood until the case was resolved. During its talks with America, Vietnam vowed to crack down on such mischief. America is doing the same. In May the justice department put 'trade and customs fraud, including tariff evasion" second on its list of priorities for white-collar crime. Of course, the best way to prevent misdeclarations of origin is to remove the incentive to do it. If America charged the same tariff on a product no matter where it was from, exporters would have no reason to lie. Everyone would face the lowest tariff charged on anyone else. Or, to put in another way, every country would receive the same tariff treatment offered to the most favoured nation. It is a bold idea to fight waste, fraud and abuse. Someone should suggest it to the president.
