Lula da Silva

New Delhi, Jan. 22: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has established himself as one of the biggest critics of the US by questioning its policies ranging from trade to West Asia, will be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade.

The leader, popularly known as Lula, is Brazil’s first Left leader to be elected President and will be in India from Saturday till Wednesday.

This is the second year in a row that Delhi has invited a leader whose relations with the US have been far from cordial. Last year, the Centre invited Iranian President Mohammad Khatami as chief guest.

Lula is the second Brazilian President — after Fernando Henrique Cardoso — to have been invited as chief guest for Republic Day celebrations within eight years.

The choice of Lula indicates that India’s foreign policy, irrespective of its growing closeness with the US, is independent. It also shows Delhi has identified Brazil as one of the countries in Latin America, as well as in the developing world, with which it could do business, both at the political and the economic levels.

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who will be Lula’s main host, has organised a banquet for his Brazilian counterpart on Sunday. Lula will also meet Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The meeting will be followed by delegation-level talks and signing of agreements between the countries the same day.

During his stay here, Lula is also scheduled to meet other senior Indian leaders, including foreign minister Yashwant Sinha and defence minister George Fernandes.

The Brazilian President will inaugurate a seminar called India-Brazil: sustainable development challenges and opportunities and attend a business luncheon organised jointly by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries on Tuesday.

He will leave for Agra the next morning and proceed to Mumbai, where he will address a business seminar organised by the Indo-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.

India-Brazil ties have grown stronger over the past few years, with the two countries working closely at the Cancun round of the World Trade Organisation talks to block the anti-developing world agenda that the US and other western powers were keen to push through.

Both are part of the G-20 and G-15 groupings of developing nations, which coordinate their position on economic and trade issues. Last year, along with South Africa, they began the India-Brazil-South Africa Dialogue Forum, dubbed the G-3.