Sixth India- Brazil Joint Commission Meeting Held

The Sixth India- Brazil Joint Commission Meeting was held in Brasilia on 14 -15 October 2013.The main issues discussed in the meeting were the entire gamut of India-Brazil Strategic Partnership including Political, Economic and Commercial, Agriculture, Science and Technology, Defence, Cultural, Hydrocarbon etc.

The Sixth India- Brazil Joint Commission Meeting was co-chaired byLuiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado, Minister of External Relations of the Federative Republic of Brazil, and Salman Khurshid, External Affairs Minister of Republic of India.

Highlights of the Sixth India- Brazil Joint Commission Meeting
• The Ministers welcomed the signature of a bilateral protocol to the Brazil-India Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement that amends its Article 26, regarding the exchange of information. The protocol is a further step in the global effort to establish an international financial system based on co-operation between countries, transparency and effective exchange of information in tax matters.
• Both Ministers discussed the issue of the ratification of the bilateral Agreement on Mutual Assistance on Customs Matters which will strengthen cooperation between customs authorities, in order to enforce customs laws and regulations
• They signed an Agreement on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, which will enhance prospects of a closer cooperation between Brazil and India in legal assistance matters.
• They also renewed the Agreement on Cooperation between their respective diplomatic academies, the Foreign Service Institute and Instituto Rio Branco, signed in 2007.The agreement has offered so far a most valuable opportunity for the new generations of Brazilian and Indian diplomats to deepen mutual understanding and better know each other's values and traditions.
• Brazil expressed its interest in implementing the new program for the interchange of professors between the two diplomatic academies, still in 2013.

About India and Brazil international relations
 • India and Brazil were established their diplomatic relations in 1948.
• Although the two countries are divided by geography and distance, they share common democratic values and developmental aspirations.
• Both countries enjoy cordial and friendly relations, which are characterized by regular    exchange of visits at all levels, shared values and convergence of views on issues of mutual interest.
• Both are large developing countries, each an important player in its region, both stable, secular, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, large democracies as well as trillion-dollar economies.
• Shared vision of India and Brazil enabled forging of close cooperation and coordination in the multilateral arena be in IBSA, BRICS, G-4, BASIC, G-20 or other organizations.