India and Brazil strengthen telecom and digital partnership

NEW DELHI: India and Brazil have agreed to deepen cooperation in telecommunications, digital infrastructure and emerging technologies, with a focus on 5G use cases, 6G collaboration, quantum communications, cybersecurity and satellite connectivity.

The bilateral meeting was held between Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Minister of Communications, India, and Frederico de Siqueira Filho, Minister of Communications, Federative Republic of Brazil, to advance structured engagement in the digital domain.

The discussions reaffirmed the growing strategic partnership between the two countries and highlighted digital connectivity as a core pillar for inclusive growth, socio-economic development and technological sovereignty. As partners in the BRICS framework, both sides stressed the need to build resilient, trusted and future-ready digital ecosystems.

Scindia apprised the Brazilian delegation of initiatives undertaken by the Government of India over the past eleven years to expand digital infrastructure, enhance affordability and strengthen inclusive connectivity. He noted that India offers among the lowest data tariffs globally and reiterated the government’s commitment to providing a bouquet of services to citizens to enable informed choice across technologies.

Satellite communications emerged as a priority area. Scindia said satcom will play a strategic role in addressing connectivity gaps in remote and far-flung regions, as well as in disaster management and emergency response. Both sides observed that for geographically vast nations such as India and Brazil, expanding connectivity to underserved areas is an obligation.

He highlighted progress under the BharatNet project, one of the world’s largest rural optical fibre roll-out programmes aimed at connecting Gram Panchayats nationwide with significant public investment. He also referred to India Stack initiatives, including Aadhaar and UPI, and pointed to the exponential growth in mobile-based digital transactions enabled by robust digital infrastructure.

The Brazilian side expressed interest in the operational framework of Digital Bharat Nidhi. Scindia explained its funding mechanism, including the 5 per cent Adjusted Gross Revenue contribution model that supports rural and remote connectivity projects.

Frederico de Siqueira Filho conveyed Brazil’s interest in expanding structured telecom cooperation and outlined the country’s digital inclusion initiatives. He referred to a major programme involving an investment of around USD 500 million to roll out nearly 40,000 km of optical fibre cable in the Amazon region. He also underlined Brazil’s success in digital payments through the PIX platform and its active engagement in satellite and submarine connectivity initiatives.

Scindia underscored India’s push for 5G innovation, including the establishment of 100 5G use case laboratories to promote industry–academia collaboration and application-driven deployment. Cybersecurity was identified as another key area, with India expressing readiness to enhance cooperation 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.

Both sides agreed to intensify bilateral engagement through regular official-level consultations, development of a joint work plan and identification of nodal stakeholders to ensure outcome-driven implementation, reaffirming their commitment to inclusive, innovation-driven and secure digital transformation.