Brazil was actually the first nation from South America to acknowledge India’s independence and establish diplomatic relations with New Delhi in 1948. This early start however remained stillborn and nothing much became of the relationship as Brazil’s opposition to the Indian liberation of Goa from Portugal meant the relationship got strained early in the day and ensured that both nations simply ignored each other for the majority of their relationship till date. However, in recent days that has all begun to change with the relations between both nations undergoing a rejuvenation in the 21st century with both nations now part of a number of groups where they complement and support each other.

These majorly include- the G4 where Brazil and India support each other’s bids for a permanent seat at the UNSC, BRICS, and IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa). The IBSA initiative was initiated in 2003. The first major summit was held at Brasilia in 2006 where the leaders of India, South Africa, and Brazil pledged to work together on a series of issues including cooperation in defense. This Defense initiative till recently was primarily focused upon the IBSAMAR series of Naval Exercises which have been undertaken by the navies of all three members every two years since 2008 but we have recently seen a flurry of activity that if nurtured correctly may lead to a new Military Industrial alliance between India and Brazil.

This recent phase started with a visit by former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to New Delhi as the Chief Guest for the Indian Republic Day Parade in January 2020 wherein he was impressed by a number of indigenous systems on the Kartavya Path. His visit helped pique interest in the Brazilian Military about Indian systems however nothing much moved on the ground till the 2022 Russian-Ukrainian conflict helped renew calls for an independent military-industrial supply network that would to a large extent be free from geopolitical pressures by the Western alliance or Russia China entente. This bore fruit in the year 2022 when a delegation from the Brazilian Navy, led by Vice Admiral Liberal Enio Zanelatto, Director of Industrial Production and Engineering Brazil made a maiden visit to India.

During that visit, the delegation visited the Western Naval Command and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in Mumbai, where they saw the Kalvari class submarines for the Indian Navy under construction alongside other vessels. This delegation also visited an operational Kalvari class Submarine of the Indian Navy. The Brazilian delegation under Vice Admiral Zanelatto also met Vice Adm Ajendra Bahadur Singh, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command on 11 Jul 22 wherein both Naval officers held extensive discussions with the Indian Navy counterparts with a focus on maintenance of submarines, the Brazilian side reportedly was keen on establishing a logistics relationship with India on maintenance of submarines.

It is worth noting here that the Brazilian Navy also operates four SCORPENE submarines that are similar to the Indian Navy’s KALVARI Class vessels. Brazil is also working on an enlarged 6000T vessel called the “Alvaro Alberto” that it is developing as its first nuclear attack submarine and India may well find synergies with Brazil here as well. This initial visit was soon followed by a visit by INS Tarkash to Rio De Janeiro on 15th August 2022 where a ceremonial flag hoisting was held and Brazilian Naval officers visited the vessel to learn more about Indian Naval construction capabilities. Brazilian officers also visited and learnt about INS Tarkash during the 2022 IBSAMAR exercise in South Africa.

The Naval outreach in 2022 was followed up by a major outreach from Brazil in February 2023 when the Brazilian Aircraft manufacturer Embraer presented the KC-390 to the Indian Air Force as its offer for the IAF Medium Transport Aircraft requirement for up to 80 aircraft. The KC-390 by itself is a very capable platform that fits the requirements set by India for the MTA, it can additionally fill the role of a military refueling tanker as well. The Brazilians have reportedly offered to build the Aircraft completely in India and have also piggybacked a very interesting offer to build the E2 series regional commercial jet in India should the IAF sign for the KC-390.

India and Brazil could also consider a quid pro quo arrangement where India buys the KC-390 in return for Brazil acquiring the ALH (Advanced Light Helicopter), LCH (Light Combat Helicopter), LUH (Light Utility Helicopter) or other helicopters from India given Embraer has till date not manufactured helicopters. Some reports also indicate India and Brazil could be working on proposals that could see Brazil acquire the AKASH SAM (Surface to Air Missile) in return for India buying KC-390 airlifters. Apart from the KC-390, there is news that the Indian Air Force is looking to acquire another 6 NETRA mk1 AEW&C (Airborne Early Warning and Control) Aircraft which will likely be based on the Embraer EMB 145 platform.

The February visits have now been followed up with two high-profile military visits that happened nearly simultaneously. First, we had the Commander of Brazilian Army General Tomas Miguel Ribeiro Paiva accompanied by an official delegation on a six-day visit to India from late August to early September. This was the first time that the Commander of the Brazilian Army had traveled to India and this visit came ahead of the G20 Summit where the President of Brazil participated and ceremonially took over the presidency of G20.

General Riberio met the chief of defense staff of India General Anil Chauhan and the defence secretary. General Ribero also visited the Pokhran field firing ranges and witnessed a number of indigenous systems in operation which reportedly has led to interest in Brazil over the Akash SAM system and Whap Armored platform. The delegation also visited the Hindustan Aeronautics facilities in Bengaluru and held discussions on building common supply chains and complementary manufacturing that can help both nations avoid any future trade embargoes.

It is worth noting here that the Brazilian Army as of date does not operate any medium-range SAM system and should Brazil buy the AKASH SAM, it will easily become the jewel in the crown for Brazilian Air defence units. India also saw a visit by the chief of the Brazilian Navy in early September where discussions on submarine maintenance were reportedly held. Some reports also indicate that the Brazilians may be looking to acquire Offshore Patrol Vessels built by MDL as well. These visits were followed up by a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India and President Lula of Brazil on the sidelines of the G20 where both leaders encouraged defence industries from both sides to explore new collaboration avenues and commence joint projects to co-produce technologically advanced defence products and build supply chain resilience.

India and Brazil actually have a nascent military-industrial relationship already in the works with the Bengaluru-based SSS Defence tying up with CBC of Brazil to manufacture ammunition in India, also Taurua Armas of Brazil has tied up with Jindal Defence to manufacture Small arms at a JV plant in Haryana. Amongst Indian manufacturers, Kanpur-based MKU had begun working with Brazilian forces long ago and supplies body armour and helmets to 10 different Brazilian military and police units over the course of the last three years. That said there remains immense scope and potential to build deeper and more intertwined military-strategic relations between India and Brazil. As detailed earlier, India can gain immensely from the Expertise of Embraer in manufacturing large fixed-wing aircraft. Brazil on its part has a lot to gain from military-industrial collaboration with India with JVs on everything from helicopters, SAM systems, Armour, 155/52 artillery guns to Warship manufacturing possible avenues for collaboration.

The primary niggles impeding Brazil-India Defence collaboration seem to be the Military collaboration between Brazil and China alongside its military agreements with Pakistan which includes an MoU signed between Brasilia and Islamabad in 2019 on defense cooperation. Pakistan’s most high-profile purchase from Brazil thus far is a 2008 deal for 100 Mectron MAR-1 anti-radiation missiles to equip Pakistan’s Mirage and JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft. But it would be incorrect to see this as anything larger than a buyer-seller agreement and India needs to increase defence engagement with Brazil so further deals like the 2008 deal can be stopped from a position of mutual cooperation.

India and Brazil are both large regional powers that see themselves as permanent members of an expanded United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as such there are mutual strategic congruences that can be exploited to build a deeper and mutually beneficial military-industrial partnership. The current State of the Global Arms market which is split into two camps needs a third large supply base to arise which non-aligned nations can utilize for their arms purchases. India and Brazil working in concert with each other can form the nucleus of this third military-industrial ecosystem and capture a large slice of the global arms bazaar.

Image source: Vajiram&Ravi