Rio de Janeiro, Nov 19 (IANS): Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday acknowledged in a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the country had "learned a lot" from the Indian experience to organise the two-day G20 Rio Summit.
"The president thanked Prime Minister Modi for joining the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty and congratulated him on organising the G20 last year. Lula said Brazil had learned a lot from the Indian experience to organise the Rio Summit," the Brazilian President's office said in a statement after the meeting.
During the meeting, President Lula also spoke of his desire to visit India in 2025, with a delegation from the government, the scientific community and businesspeople, to expand relations between the two countries in sectors such as energy and pharmaceuticals, as well as university exchanges and technology transfer.
Prime Minister Modi said India would be delighted to welcome President Lula and his entourage next year, and would work towards a state visit to Brazil in 2025.
"Held talks with President Lula during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Complimented him on various efforts of Brazil during their G20 Presidency. We took stock of the full range of bilateral ties between our nations and reaffirmed our commitment to improving cooperation in sectors like energy, biofuels, defence, agriculture and more," PM Modi posted on X.
The PM praised the Brazilian presidency for continuing the work of the G20 and for progress on issues on the group's agenda.
The two leaders also discussed cooperation in the biofuels, defence and aerospace sectors.
The Rio Summit carries forward the priorities from last year's G20 New Delhi Summit, where a number of issues of interest, especially to emerging markets and developing economies were discussed.
Brazilian ministers Mauro Vieira (Foreign Affairs), Fernando Haddad (Finance), Alexandre Silveira (Mines and Energy), Luciana Santos (Science and Technology), as well as the executive secretary of the Ministry of Development, Industry and Commerce, Marcio Elias Rosa also participated in the meeting.