MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Three great democracies “strategic alliance”

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on a four days state visit to India said he would like to forge a “strategic alliance” with India and other large developing democracies, such as South Africa, to help better living conditions of the world's poor.

Working on the "spiritual strength" of Mahatma Gandhi, "I believe India and Brazil can build together a strong political force capable of making a contribution, so that the trade geography of the world can change for better" and so "meet the need of the world's poor countries".

President Lula da Silva's Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said that Brazil, South Africa and India already constitute an informal bloc based on the convergent viewpoints of "three great democracies located on three different continents".

This informal alliance, according to Mr. Amorim, held its ground strongly in the latest round of World Trade Organization talks in Cancun, Mexico, where it demanded a reduction in rich countries farm subsidies and acted as a counterweight to the campaign for unrestricted trade liberalization sponsored by the United States and European Union.

If the "strategic alliance" can add Russia and China, they could account for over half the world's population and acting in co-ordination could improve relations within the WTO, "without resorting to a dominating spirit".

In line with this thinking, and taking advantage of President Lula's state visit, India and Mercosur signed a preferential customs duty accord which will act as a framework agreement setting the parameters for free trade between the South American block and the Asian giant.

On the more bilateral relation, Mr. Amorim stressed that "Brazil and India have been getting along very well together in multilateral organizations and this visit by President Lula da Silva will allow us to add a new dimension to our bilateral ties and open new doors."

Bilateral trade has been growing steadily and last year reached 1,2 billion US dollars. "India and Brazil, which together make up over 1,3 billion people, face similar challenges in alleviating hunger and poverty", remarked President Lula adding that the members of the "strategic alliance" are entitled to a more leading role in world affairs.