In order to garner support for India’s campaign against terror, security cooperation and collaboration on critical minerals will be in focus during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s five-nation tour from July 2, and officials said on Monday the leaders’ declaration at the Brics Summit in Brazil is expected to denounce the Pahalgam attack and call for concerted action against terrorism.
PM Modi is set to travel to Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Brazil and Namibia — all seen as part of the Global South — during July 2-9, with the main engagement of the visit being the Brics Summit in Rio de Janeiro during July 6-7. Bolstering defence and security cooperation and ramping up trade and investment will be a key part of Modi’s discussions with leaders of all five countries.
India has issued a worldwide diplomatic appeal to find support for its anti-cross-border terror campaign after it launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 to attack terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan in response to April 22's Pahalgam terrorist attack that killed 26 civilians. Dammu Ravi, economic relations secretary in the external affairs ministry, informed a media briefing that the declaration by the leaders of the Brics Summit in Brazil is likely to resonate with India's appeal for collective global action against terror.
Ravi informed that there was no Brics member state contradiction regarding the matter of terrorism as they had shown understanding, sympathy and solidarity with India when there was an attack at Pahalgam. Apart from India and Brazil, Brics also comprises Russia, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
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"I believe this has been adequately addressed in the [leaders] statement and all the members are quite sensitive to this issue," he stated in reference to the document that will be released at the end of the summit. "There is also a general consensus on how to address this threat of terror and no one should be exempted in addressing it."
The five-nation tour is in keeping with India’s efforts at diversifying engagements with emerging countries and its focus on the Global South, officials said. Despite a decision by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin to skip the Brics Summit, Ravi said Modi’s presence will be an “expression of solidarity” with the grouping that India will chair next year.
Brazil's Brics Summit agenda represents the Global South issues and these are consistent with India's stand, Ravi said. The summit will also provide a major opportunity for meeting other leaders of the Global South, he said.
With Namibia, Argentina and Brazil having sizeable reserves of rare earths such as lithium, cobalt, graphite and tantalum that are needed to power India’s energy transition and green technologies, discussions on assured supplies of critical minerals is expected to figure in Modi’s discussions with the leaders of these countries. Brazil boasts the third-largest rare earth reserves in the world, and Argentina is among the "lithium triangle" nations, including Chile and Bolivia, with over half of all the world's lithium reserves.
India's Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL) and an Argentinian state-owned company signed a contract a year ago for lithium exploration, and P Kumaran, secretary (East) in the external affairs ministry, informed the media briefing that KABIL and Coal India have been allotted four concessions in Catamarca province of Argentina to mine sites. From the private sector, Greenco and World Metals & Alloys have also been allotted a concession, he added.
While broader discussions on defence and security cooperation will be included in talks with all five countries, Kumaran stated that there will be discussions with Brazil on strengthening joint research, information-sharing and training exchanges. Brazil also evinced interest in buying defence equipment from India, such as secure communications systems, offshore patrol vessels, the Akash air defence system, coastal surveillance systems, and Garuda artillery guns, he added.
Modi will be the first Indian prime minister to visit Ghana in three decades, and discussions will centre on increasing economic cooperation. Bilateral trade is presently valued at $3 billion, with the balance in favour of Ghana due to India's substantial imports of gold, while Indian investment in Ghana stands at around $2 billion, officials added.
An Indian prime minister is visiting Namibia after 27 years, and one of the major outcomes of the visit will be a deal on inter-operability of India's Unified Payment Interface (UPI) system, officials added. At the bilateral meeting of Modi with Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brasilia on July 8, trade and investment, as well as oil and gas, renewable energy, space and technology cooperation, will be the talking points. Two-way commerce is now valued at about $12.2 billion, with the trade balance in India's favour.
Modi will also speak to Parliaments in Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago and Namibia.
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