Lula, Singh seek to broaden trade relations

Brasilia - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreed Thursday to increase talks to broaden trade relations between India and Mercosur, a South American trade bloc led by Brazil.

In a meeting in Brasilia, Lula and Singh also agreed to diversify bilateral trade. Their common goal is to reach 10 billion dollars in bilateral exchanges in 2010, a considerable leap from last year's 5.6 billion dollars.

Brasilia was hosting Thursday the summits of the groups known as IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa) and BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China).

Lula and Singh also tackled multilateral issues, particularly the need to reform international organizations.

"The two leaders shared the view on the urgent need to strengthen the participation of developing countries in the decision-making processes within the multilateral financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and political bodies, such as the United Nations," they said in a joint statement.

"They reaffirmed their commitment for the reform of the United Nations, particularly of the Security Council, including through its expansion in both permanent and non-permanent membership, with a view to improving its efficiency ... and legitimacy needed to meet the challenges faced by the international community."

Singh and Lula vowed to press for a revitalization of the Doha Round of talks at the World Trade Organization (WTO), which has been stalled for years.

"The prolonged inconclusiveness of the negotiations may threaten the credibility of the rule-based multilateral trading system, which has proved its relevance in resisting protectionism during the recent global economic crisis," the statement said.

India and Brazil were to increase cooperation in the fields of science and technology, nuclear and other forms of energy, and defense, among others.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/318981,lula-singh-seek-to-broaden-trade-relations.html.