India-Brazil Eye Economic Pact, Defence Ties Amid G20 Trade Talks

At G20 talks, India's Piyush Goyal and Brazil's Márcio Elias Rosa discussed a potential economic pact and defence cooperation, including Embraer investments. The talks also addressed global steel overcapacity and India-US trade negotiations.

Brazilian Industry and Trade Minister Márcio Fernando Elias Rosa, meeting with Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on the sidelines of G20 trade talks in the United States, has spotlighted India's pivotal global economic standing, revealing that the two nations engaged in substantive discussions to bolster bilateral ties, deepen defence cooperation, and forge potential economic agreements.

India-Brazil Strengthen Strategic Partnership

Highlighting the strategic partnership between the two countries, the visiting minister said, "India is a highly important trading partner for Brazil. It is an economy that is important to the whole world. What we discussed is about potentially having an agreement between the 2 economies." Elaborating on the scope of future collaborations, Minister Elias Rosa specifically pointed towards prospective aerospace partnerships and security ties. "We spoke about defence cooperation and the possibility of having investments of Embraer aircraft in India," he added.

G20 Ministers Tackle Steel Overcapacity, Trade Rules

Building directly upon these high-level discussions, Goyal, who serves as India's Union Commerce and Industry Minister and is steering New Delhi's economic engagement at the gathering, joined trade ministers from the world’s major economies as they commenced two days of high-level talks in Milwaukee. The gathering unfolds as the United States drives for coordinated action against global steel overcapacity and proposed changes to international trade rules.Hosted by United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, the G20 Trade Ministerial opened on Wednesday (local time) against a backdrop of tariff tensions, anxieties over excess industrial capacity and diverging views among major economies regarding the future of the global trading architecture.The opening day's most tangible development emerged from a session of the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity, where participating nations endorsed a fresh framework targeting overproduction. Greer stated that the "Milwaukee Framework" would seek stronger coordinated action against excess capacity, encompassing measures addressing trade remedies, the monitoring of steel supply chains and enhanced scrutiny of transhipment.When asked if countries had agreed to increase tariffs on Chinese steel, Greer replied that individual governments would determine their own course. "Well, every country will do what they think is appropriate," Greer said. "We want to coordinate those measures. The United States has taken robust measures, and it probably makes sense for other countries to do that too." This steel-focused initiative forms part of a broader US agenda for the ministerial, which also aims to eliminate forced labour from global supply chains, update the Most-Favoured-Nation principle, oppose the weaponisation of trade in food and tackle structural excess capacity and production.

India's Diplomatic and Economic Push at G20

Representing India at the ministerial, Goyal is conducting critical bilateral engagements on the sidelines. New Delhi has articulated its stance, stating it will work toward "a rules-based, open, inclusive, transparent, equitable and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system, with the World Trade Organization at its core, while ensuring adequate policy space for developing countries." This position carries significant weight given that the United States has placed the update of the Most-Favoured-Nation principle firmly on the Milwaukee agenda.The meeting coincides with efforts by New Delhi and Washington to advance negotiations for an India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement and finalise an interim trade deal. The Commerce Ministry noted that Goyal will engage bilaterally with his US counterpart "as part of ongoing efforts to advance a balanced and mutually beneficial India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) and finalise an interim deal in line with the Joint Statement of 7 February 2026".Trade discussions gained additional political momentum on Wednesday following a telephone conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump, during which they reviewed bilateral cooperation encompassing trade, defence, energy and emerging technologies.Ahead of the formal ministerial discussions, Goyal met CEOs and senior executives of American manufacturing and technology firms at a roundtable hosted by the National Association of Manufacturers. He urged American manufacturers to deepen their footprint in India, collaborate with Indian small and medium enterprises, and explore co-investments geared towards advanced manufacturing and resilient supply chains, observing that the economic partnership between India and the US is broadening beyond traditional commerce to embrace investment, manufacturing, technology, innovation and resilient supply chains.

Broader Context and Bilateral Engagements in Milwaukee

As part of an initiative by the Trump administration to place American manufacturing at the forefront of the gathering, G20 ministers toured Rockwell Automation in Milwaukee on Wednesday. Greer noted that Milwaukee was intentionally selected to showcase US factories to visiting trade ministers. "I could take them to great places like Sun Valley or other things like that, but we wanted them to see American factories", Greer remarked ahead of the formal talks, adding that the goal was for delegates to "see what we're trying to protect."The event has also served as a platform for a series of parallel bilateral discussions. Canadian International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu is attending the sessions and is slated to meet with Greer and India's representative on Thursday as Ottawa pursues an economic partnership agreement with New Delhi. Canada has indicated it will leverage the Milwaukee meeting to project itself as an "open, predictable and rules-based" trading partner while striving to diversify its trade partnerships.Russia is represented at the talks by Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov, alongside participation from Japan and other major economies. The Milwaukee meetings will continue on Thursday with further ministerial sessions, culminating in an afternoon press conference by Greer before delegates convene for their concluding session. The G20 unites major developed and emerging economies, serving as a critical forum to address frictions over trade, industrial policy and supply chains ahead of the G20 leaders' summit scheduled to be hosted by the United States later this year.

Embraer Deepens India Footprint with Key Partnerships

Tying directly back to the diplomatic focus on aerospace cooperation, Brazilian aerospace firm Embraer has advanced its industrial strategy in India, announcing key partnerships for the Indian Air Force’s 60-aircraft Multi-Role Transport Aircraft (MTA) programme and civilian sectors.

Partnerships with Mahindra and Adani

In an interview with ANI, Embraer Defence & Security President and CEO Bosco Da Costa Junior confirmed that the firm has teamed up with the Mahindra Group for the military transport jet, the KC-390 Millennium, while partnering with the Adani Group for its civilian aircraft business."Let me make this point very clear. Again, as I mentioned, we have been following this since the beginning. So, back in 2023, we did a C-390 demo here in India, where we could meet the entire ecosystem, their own ecosystem and potential partners for that. At that time, we did a very deep analysis of the market, and we chose the Mahindra Group to be our partner for MTA. So, on the military side, Mahindra is our partner to pursue this case around the transport aircraft. On the Embraer commercial side, from a civilian perspective, Embraer is exploring another avenue with Adani to address the increased demand around connectivity and regional flights. So, Adani is our partner for the civilian side. This is not going to change," he said, following the issuance of Requests for Proposal by the Defence Ministry to five entities, including Mahindra, Tata, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Reliance Defence and Adani.

C-390's Strategic Fit for Indian Air Force

Addressing the IAF's urgent requirement to replace ageing platforms like the AN-32, Bosco noted that the twin-engine C-390 is tailored to standardise the medium transport fleet. "We are fully engaged to answer this, to comply with the timeline that they are looking for. They need this capability fast to increase the availability of their fleet. And again, I think the C-390 is the perfect fit for them," he stated.Comparing it to rival offerings such as the Tata-Lockheed Martin C-130J, Bosco asserted, "What a C-130 can do, the KC-390 can do even better. We can carry more; we can fly faster, higher, with unprecedented rates of availability and mission accomplishment." Backed by global orders reaching around 70 units and demonstrated reliability in unpaved environments, Embraer views India as a central anchor for its supply chain expansion. "We would like to use India as a hub for us because, again, we need to expand our supply chain base and our MRO base because we are growing. I can’t support operators worldwide without growing my network from a global perspective. So that’s the reason we are watching this case here as a very strategic one for us," Bosco said. (ANI)(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)