A bilateral meeting was held between minister of communications and development of north eastern region, India, and minister of communications, federative republic of Brazil, to advance cooperation in telecommunications, digital infrastructure, and emerging technologies.
The discussions reaffirmed the growing strategic partnership between India and Brazil and underscored digital connectivity as a foundational pillar for inclusive growth, socio-economic development, and technological sovereignty. As key partners in the Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa framework, both sides emphasised the importance of shaping resilient, trusted, and future-ready digital ecosystems.
Welcoming the Brazilian delegation, the communications minister of India apprised the Brazilian side of the wide-ranging initiatives undertaken by the government of India over the past 11 years to expand digital infrastructure, promote affordability, and strengthen inclusive connectivity. He highlighted India’s achievement in providing among the lowest data tariffs globally and emphasised the government’s commitment to ensuring a bouquet of services for citizens, enabling informed choice across technologies.
Further, satellite communications emerged as a key priority area. The minister underlined that satcom will play a strategic role in addressing connectivity challenges in remote and far-flung areas, as well as in disaster management and emergency response, and necessary steps are being taken to start satellite-based services in India. Both sides acknowledged that for geographically vast nations such as India and Brazil, expanding connectivity to underserved regions is no longer optional but an obligation.
He underlined the progress of the BharatNet project aimed at connecting gram panchayats across the country, supported by significant public investment. He also elaborated on India sack initiatives, including Aadhaar and unified payments interface and noted the exponential growth of mobile-based digital transactions as a result of robust digital infrastructure.
Moreover, the minister explained Digital Bharat Nidhi’s funding mechanism, including the five per cent adjusted gross revenue contribution model that supports rural and remote connectivity projects.
The minister further emphasised India’s focus on 5G innovation and use cases, including the establishment of 100 use case laboratories for 5G across the country to promote industry–academia collaboration and application-driven deployment. Cybersecurity was identified as another important area of collaboration, with India expressing readiness to strengthen engagement with Brazil in secure networks, telecom fraud prevention, and resilient digital infrastructure. Brazil’s expanding 5G subscriber base was noted as an opportunity for knowledge exchange and joint initiatives.
Meanwhile, the Brazilian minister conveyed his keen interest in expanding structured cooperation in telecommunications and shared Brazil’s initiatives in digital inclusion, including a major program with an investment of approximately $500 million to roll out approximately 40,000 kilometre of optical fibre cable in the Amazon region. He also underlined Brazil’s success in promoting digital payments through the PIX platform and emphasised the country’s active engagement in satellite and submarine connectivity initiatives.
Both sides agreed to intensify bilateral engagement through regular official-level consultations, the development of a joint work plan, and the identification of nodal stakeholders to ensure outcome-driven implementation. They reaffirmed their shared commitment to promoting inclusive, innovation-driven, and secure digital transformation.
