New Delhi: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva recently visited India, and he received a special gesture from Prime Minister Narendra Modi upon his arrival for the state visit, which reminded him of the surprise he arranged for Modi during his visit to Brazil last year.
President Lula spoke at the India-Brazil Economic Forum, saying that the Brazilian composers’ songs were played at lunch and the state dinner, including the iconic ‘Asa Branca,’ which left him surprised by the thoughtful tribute.
“I was surprised yesterday, at the state dinner and at lunch too. I don’t know if the Brazilian journalists remember this, but when Prime Minister Modi went to visit Brazil last year, we did research on the song that he preferred most. We went to São Paulo to try to find a singer who could sing the song that he enjoyed most. So we did a surprise for him at the Palácio da Alvorada in Brazil, and it was visible that he was touched by the song that we chose to play for him,” he said.
The Brazilian president was touched by the reception he received from Modi, and he said that he didn’t imagine the reception he got.
“Yesterday I was surprised because during lunch we started to hear a song. I saw that that song had something to do with us… Then they played other songs from the Brazilian composers. They played Asa Branca,” Lula added.
Lula came to India on February 18, and he was on a four-day visit to the state. He met Modi to expand strategic cooperation and bilateral ties between the two countries. Both leaders set a target to raise the bilateral trade to 20 billion dollars in just five years.
President Lula attended the AI Impact Summit in India and also visited a state banquet hosted by Indian President Droupadi Murmu.
Lula also stated, “My dear friend Modi, it is a reason of happiness for me to return to this country for the sixth time. The meeting between India and Brazil is a meeting of superlatives. We are not just the two biggest democracies of the Global South. This is a meeting of a digital superpower with a renewable energy superpower.”