By Rajnish Singh

New Delhi [India], September 22 (ANI) With US tariffs reshaping global trade patterns, Brazil has pitched for deeper economic and agricultural cooperation with India, calling the moment an 'opportunity' for the two emerging powers to align their strengths.

Brazil's Ambassador to India, Kenneth Felix Haczynski da Nobrega, said both countries must work 'even more closely together' to counter challenges and create new avenues for growth.

'Brazil and India are trusted partners. We have been conducting diplomatic relations almost for the last eight years now. So, in this new geopolitical context (of US tariffs), what are Brazil and India doing? Let's work even more closer together. Let's look for complementarities of our economies, of our agricultural sectors. So, we are on positive side. We see this as an opportunity,' Nobrega told ANI on the sidelines of Maitri 2.0 Cross Border Agri-Tech event, a five-day programme between September 22 to September 26 designed to foster collaboration between scientists and researchers from both countries.

The envoy stressed the importance of joint research to tackle climate change, extreme weather, and food security.

'I think the focus of this five-day event is teaming together. Brazilian scientists and researchers and Indian scientists and researchers, to find new ways to develop new ways of agricultural resilience to climate change, to extreme weather events and also to boost the productivity of both of our agricultures. India and Brazil are agriculture powerhouses. We are always among the top three or four largest producers in the world every year,' he said.

Nobrega also linked the initiative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to Brazil in July, during which both nations laid down a 10-year roadmap for cooperation under five pillars.

He said the two of those pillars are being implemented here today at Maitri 2.0-- One is food security, meaning agricultural cooperation; and the second is science, technology and innovation cooperation.

The Ambassador mentioned both the countries We are now hands-on implementing what our leaders told us to implement.

'...PM Modi made a very important State Visit to Brazil, back in July. I was there when the two leaders discussed and set five pillars as a chartering course for our future partnership in the next 10 years. Two of them are being implemented here today at Maitri 2.0. One is food security, meaning agricultural cooperation. Second is science, technology and innovation cooperation. So, we are very glad that less than 2 months after that important State Visit, we are now hands on implementing what our leaders told us to implement.'

The Ambassador underlined that India and Brazil are among the world's largest agricultural producers, often ranking in the top three or four globally. He said joint research would focus on building agricultural resilience to climate change and extreme weather, while enhancing productivity to meet global food security challenges.

The Maitri 2.0 initiative not only strengthens bilateral ties in agri-tech but also positions both nations as leading voices in global discussions on sustainable agriculture and climate resilience.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) today inaugurated Maitri 2.0: India-Brazil Cross Border Agri-tech Incubators' program. The five-day event builds on the momentum of the successful Maitri-1.0 program held during 2019-2020 and aims to expand the horizons of India-Brazil cooperation in agricultural innovation and entrepreneurship.

Officials said while the first edition of Maitri established a strong foundation for international collaboration in agri-tech, the second edition, Maitri 2.0, takes this partnership further by focusing specifically on incubators.

As per the officials, these incubators are the backbone of the start-up ecosystem and the event seeks to deepen linkages between Indian and Brazilian incubation centres, providing a platform for co-incubation, cross-border start-up exchanges and collaborative innovation.

Through this initiative, ICAR aims to demonstrate how India's policy-driven ecosystem has nurtured agri-tech start-ups and explore how similar modelscould be adapted in Brazil.

The event will bring together leading_ agri-tech incubators, early-stage and growth-stage start-ups, venture investors, corporate innovators, policymakers and academic experts from both countries. The collaboration will not only strengthen institutional partnerships but also promote knowledge-sharing, joint ventures and global access to new agricultural technologies. (ANI)