If Brazil’s president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, decides to convene a meeting of his cabinet in New Delhi on June 4, he would have no difficulty in finding a quorum, if one was needed, to legitimize that meeting. Nine Brazilian ministers and six vice-ministers are accompanying Lula on his visit to India from June 3 to 5, to consolidate the foundations of a new relationship between the two countries, created in 2003 with the establishment of the India-Brazil-South Africa Dialogue Forum.

Lula’s stay in New Delhi will not be just one of those routine state visits arranged to meet the demands of diplomatic correctness and made to fit the norms of protocol. A few days after his re-election as president for a second term on October 30 last year, Lula and the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, had a lengthy conversation on the phone. According to Brazilian officials privy to that conversation, Lula told Singh during their talk that he wanted to make a point by travelling the long distance to India early in his second term. It is a statement that ought to make Indians a little contrite. When Singh went to Brasilia in September last year, he became the first Indian head of government to visit Brazil with a bilateral agenda after a gap of 38 years.

For those weary of the clichéd use of the term, ‘common values’, with respect to relations between India and the United States of America in the last eight years, it might come as a surprise that India has more in common with Brazil than with most countries. India and Brazil are stable democracies and both are developing countries unequalled in size by most similarly-placed nations around the world. With India recently crossing that equivalent in international affairs of the glass ceiling, both countries are now trillion-dollar economies. At the same time, it should not be forgotten that India and Brazil are also united by common problems: their similarities on the domestic scene are many. Therefore, as Lula, on the one hand, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee (and now Manmohan Singh), on the other, have resolved, it makes eminent sense for New Delhi and Brasilia to not only come together, but also attract third countries to develop ties jointly with these new twins on the global platform.

In their obsession with the US and Pakistan, India’s strategic community and opinion-makers often do not realize that since Lula’s inauguration as president in January, 2003, that country has been making rapid strides in international affairs. Within months of assuming office, Lula floated the novel idea of a summit meeting between Arab and South American countries. In May, 2005, that summit was held in Brasilia, bringing together two large groups of countries with immense potential and resources in such crucial areas for mankind, such as energy and food. The successful conclusion of the first South American-Arab countries summit encouraged Lula to set his sights on similarly bringing together South America and another bloc of countries with neglected potential. In November last year, the first South American-African summit took place, attended by more than 60 heads of state and government from both continents. Brazil’s trade with Africa has doubled since 2003. Lula’s administration has opened 12 new embassies worldwide in the last four years.

The IBSA Dialogue Forum was also conceived in 2003 around the same time that Brazil’s other diplomatic initiatives were getting off the ground, but the first IBSA summit of Lula, Singh and the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, did not take place until September last year. However, activity built around the forum has gathered pace since that trilateral summit in Brasilia.

As an economist who has experienced the Green Revolution and studied its dramatic impact on India’s economy, Singh gives Brazil a special place in his scheme of things. He is keenly aware of the fragile nature of India’s food security and the need to have a second Green Revolution. While his colleagues and aides have been preoccupied with the sexier aspects of Indo-US relations such as the nuclear deal and high-tech cooperation, Singh tried to inject a greater agricultural and food security content into interaction with Washington during his visit to the White House almost two years ago, and again, during George W Bush’s return visit to New Delhi. While his personal interest has borne fruit in the form of some link-ups between agricultural institutions in India and the US since 2005, such cooperation remains largely on the backburner amidst the huge agenda in Indo-US relations.

The prime minister sees deepening relations with Brazil, often described as an agricultural superpower, as a key element in India’s quest for food security. Brazil has as much as 20 per cent of the entire world’s fresh-water reserves. Less than six per cent of its huge mass of arable land has been used for agriculture. A marriage between India’s manpower in the farm sector and Brazil’s natural resources holds promise for joint efforts in raising food productivity for Indian consumers. Collaboration with Brazil also offers a chance to realize the potential of India’s under-developed food processing sector. A beginning in these areas was made during Singh’s visit to Brazil when the Indian Council for Agricultural Research and its Brazilian counterpart, Embrapa, agreed on a work plan. It needs a political boost during Lula’s visit.

When this columnist was in Brasilia a few days ago, the city was abuzz with speculation about what India and Brazil were jointly assembling in the area of space cooperation in the run-up to Lula’s New Delhi trip. G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, was in Brasilia. But what excited Brazilians in their government — even those not directly involved in the talks with Nair — was that Sergio Gaudenzi, head of the Brazilian space agency known by its Portuguese acronym, AEB, had cut short his holiday in Salvador and flown into the capital for confabulations with the visiting ISRO delegation. The two national space agencies signed a memorandum of understanding in March, 2002, and a framework agreement in January, 2004, but it was clear that Nair’s visit lent muscle to bilateral space cooperation, which lacked direction despite the earlier agreements.

The bilateral agenda that Singh and Lula will tackle in less than a week is substantial. But none of it can realize its full potential unless the issue of connectivity between India and Brazil is addressed by the two governments and private sectors in both countries. While shipping links have improved after the creation of the IBSA Dialogue Forum, with its favourable impact on economic activities, getting to Brazil remains a minor challenge for Indians, especially businessmen who have to tailor their schedules to where the money is. India’s public sector aviation has lived up to its notorious reputation of neither spotting the opportunities in Brazil nor meeting the challenge offered by an expansion of business. For most international airlines, Sao Paulo is the hub for the entire Latin American region. Some major European airlines fly through the city’s bustling airport twice daily. But Indian flag carriers are conspicuous by their absence.

Airlines in India have failed to take advantage of the opportunities offered by bilateral and IBSA air service agreements: even the promise of an extension of Air India flights from Johannesburg onward to Sao Paulo this year now appears unlikely to be fulfilled. Meanwhile, carriers like Emirates and Qatar Airways are planning to take advantage of the growing passenger traffic from India. This may be some comfort to Indians who want to take advantage of the new opportunities in Brazil and vice versa. But Lula and Singh must seriously address the question of geography even as they deal with geo-strategic issues in the emerging relationship between their countries.