New delhi: India and Brazil on Thursday adopted a Joint Declaration appealing to deepen the MERCOSUR India Trade Agreement. According to Kuwait News Agency, the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry released a statement highlighting the discussions between Geraldo Alckmin, the Vice President of Brazil and Minister of Development, Industry, Trade and Services, who is currently on an official visit to India, and Piyush Goyal, the Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry. Both ministers welcomed the interest of India and the MERCOSUR member states in enhancing their existing Preferential Trade Agreement to promote trade and investment between the parties. Both countries concurred that the expansion of the agreement should be substantial, aiming to ensure that a significant portion of bilateral trade benefits from tariff preferences. They also agreed that the expansion should address both tariff and non-tariff issues related to trade and economic partnership. The parties emphasized that the next step in th is initiative should be to establish a technical dialogue to define the scope of the expansion. The statement highlighted the goal of concluding negotiations within one year from their commencement. The Brazilian side expressed its commitment to work in a coordinated manner with its MERCOSUR partners to achieve a substantial, swift, and mutually beneficial deepening of the agreement. The Framework Agreement between India and MERCOSUR, signed on 17 June 2003, aimed to strengthen relations and promote the expansion of trade.
