New delhi: Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi announced today that his country and Brazil have signed an agreement on rare earth minerals, following talks he held in New Delhi with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is visiting India.

According to Qatar News Agency, the Indian Prime Minister considered this agreement a major step towards building resilient supply chains. For his part, the Brazilian President affirmed that increased investment and cooperation on renewable energy and rare earth minerals "are at the heart of the groundbreaking agreement we signed today."

Brazil possesses the world's second-largest reserves of these minerals, which are essential for numerous products, such as electric cars, solar panels, smartphones, as well as aircraft engines and guided missiles.

Modi emphasized that Brazil is India's main trading partner in South America, adding, "We are committed to increasing our bilateral trade volume to over USD 20 billion over the next five years." India is seeking to reduce its dependence on China and has developed its domestic production and recycling activities, while simultaneously searching for new suppliers of rare metals.