Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Thursday reviewed bilateral relations and emphasised the role of reformed multilateralism in addressing shared challenges.

Lula dialled Modi to discuss his upcoming visit to India to participate in the AI Impact Summit and for a bilateral meeting with Modi next month, people familiar with the matter said. Lula is expected to travel to New Delhi during February 19-21, they said.

“Glad to speak with President Lula. We reviewed the strong momentum in the India-Brazil Strategic Partnership, which is poised to scale new heights in the year ahead,” Modi said on social media.

“Our close cooperation is vital for advancing the shared interests of the Global South. I look forward to welcoming him to India soon,” he said.

Lula announced last August that he would undertake a state visit to India in early 2026. At the time, Lula was engaged in efforts to rally the members of the Brics grouping, which is currently chaired by India, on tackling tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. Both India and Brazil had been hit with 50% tariffs by Trump.

According to a readout from the Indian government, Modi and Lula recalled their meetings in Brazil and South Africa last year and expressed satisfaction at significant progress achieved across diverse areas of cooperation, including trade, investment, technology, defence, energy, health, agriculture, and people-to-people ties.

They also exchanged views on regional and global issues and underscored the “importance of reformed multilateralism in addressing shared challenges”, the readout said.

India and Brazil are key members of the Brics grouping, which has been repeatedly attacked by Trump, who has claimed the bloc is working to undermine the US dollar by settling trade in national currencies. The people said Lula is unlikely to attend the Brics Summit in India later this year as he is expected to focus on his campaign ahead of Brazil's general election in October.

The Modi-Lula phone call comes amid New Delhi's ongoing tariff tensions with US President Donald Trump. Lula confirmed last August that a state visit to India would take place in early 2026. He had earlier told Reuters that he would initiate a conversation among the BRICS group of countries on tackling levies imposed by Trump.

Trump on Thursday expressed confidence in a “good” trade deal with India and called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “fantastic leader" and a “great friend”. He made the remark on the sidelines of his address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“I have a great respect for your prime minister (Modi). He is a fantastic man and a friend of mine. We are gonna have a good deal,” Donald Trump said in response to a question on the India-US trade deal by a Moneycontrol journalist.

It's been nearly five months since the tariffs on Indian exports to the US hit a massive 50% — half of which was labelled a “penalty” by Trump over India's purchase of Russian oil — and there's continued uncertainty about when a trade deal may be struck, if at all.

Faltering US-India trade deal

Trade negotiations between officials of the two countries have been underway since before the tariffs took effect, with formal talks beginning in March-April last year, following a February greenlight. Statements made by Trump and some key officials in his administration over the past few days have further deepened the mystery.

One of Trump's key aides, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, claimed that a potential trade deal between India and the US fell through because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi “not calling” the US President. Another aide recently claimed that Trump has greenlit a bill that could hike tariffs on India to 500%. These looked like ominous signs of how Trump sees the future of US-India ties, despite proclaiming friendship with PM Modi.

India was quick to reject Lutnick's claims. Hope re-emerged after the new US ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, recently said the US considers India an important partner and that trade talks remain underway.

Trump dropped a big hint earlier this month that his administration could further increase tariffs on India. During a media interaction aboard Air Force One, Trump called PM Modi “a good guy”.

“India wanted to make me happy. Modi is a very good guy, and he knew I was not happy. And it was important to make me happy. We can raise tariffs on them very quickly,” Trump said.

Trump's tariffs on Brazil

The Donald Trump administration had imposed a 40 per cent tariff on Brazilian products in July on top of a 10 per cent tariff imposed earlier. The tariffs were in retaliation for the Brazilian Supreme Court's conviction of Trump ally and Lula's predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, for attempting a coup.

However, the 40 per cent tariffs on Brazilian food products, including beef, coffee, cocoa and fruits, were later withdrawn in November. Rising food prices were a major factor behind Trump's declining approval ratings, which had fallen to their lowest since his return to power, a Reuters/Ipsos poll at the time found.