[R-G] Lula: The 21st century will belong to India, Brazil, Russia, and China

[Fred Feldman]

'21st century will belong to India, Brazil, Russia and China'

NEW DELHI: Visiting Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said
yesterday that the 21st century would belong to India, Brazil, Russia
and China and they would rewrite the "economic geography" of the
world.

Lula, on a four-day visit to India, said the US and European Union
would eventually yield to the "great unity and power" shown by the
developing countries in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks in
the Mexican city of Cancun last September.

"The developing world gave an excellent example of solidarity in
Cancun. We want to go on forging co-operation among ourselves to
change the economic and trade geography of planet earth," he told a
business conference in New Delhi.

"The 21st century will belong to the developing countries - countries
like India, Russia, Brazil and China and many others - who for so long
were treated as second class citizens by the major trading blocks."

India and Brazil are leaders among developing countries that banded
together at the WTO talks in Cancun to press the developed world to
phase out their farm subsidies.

"Either we believe in ourselves or we keep crying for the end of
agricultural subsidies," said Lula.

"They (developed world) will not come to our rescue if we keep crying.
We have to be saved by our own strength. The moment we have business
options they will come running after us. We will get what we have not
got in 20 years."

India, China, Brazil and other developing countries also opposed what
they considered an accord forced on them by rich nations on such
issues as trade, investment, competition and government spending.

"Let us engage in globalisation which is attentive to social and
environmental concerns which is fairer both politically and
economically," said Lula.

"Neither India nor Brazil want to decrease their trade with the United
States and the EU but those two major trading blocks have forced us to
fight to keep new issues and obstacles off the multilateral trading
agenda."

Lula, who was chief guest at India's Republic Day parade, also inked a
landmark agreement with India and the Latin American trading bloc
Mercosul.

"The signing of the preferential fixed tariff agreement between India
and the Mercosul trading block of Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and
Argentina will contribute to greater trade dynamism," said Lula.

"India will get access to a common market of 220 million consumers."

Six other agreements - on co-operation between space agencies and on
visa arrangements, promoting tourism and increasing cultural
exchanges - were signed on Sunday between Indian and Brazilian
ministers.

An environmental co-operation pact was signed yesterday between the
Confederation of Indian Industry and Brazil's Confederation of
Industry in the presence of Lula and Indian Commerce Minister Arun
Jaitely.

"We do hope that trade between India and Brazil will open out with the
signing of all these pacts," Jaitley said after the environment pact
was signed.

"Even at the peak of our relations our bilateral trade potential is
grossly understated. We want it to increase to two billion dollars in
2004."

Bilateral trade between India and Brazil stands at $1.2 billion, with
Brazil's exports ranging from soya and auto parts to sugar, while
India exports diesel, pharmaceuticals and engineering goods. - AFP



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