New Delhi [India], February 22 (ANI): Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday described his current visit as having a ''characteristic that is very special'' while recalling how his 2005 trip to India fundamentally reshaped Brazil's economic strategy.

He highlighted the deep cultural and financial ties between the two nations, noting that India served as the inspiration for Brazil's massive build-up of international hard currency reserves.

Reflecting on that turning point, President Lula stated, ''It was in India in 2005 that, for the very first time, I perceived the importance of having international hard currency reserves. I came here, my first trip, and India had accrued USD 100 billion in international hard currency reserves. I came back to Brazil convinced that we needed to build up our international reserves, and we had to have an extra buffer.''

The Brazilian President in his address to the India-Brazil Economic Forum in New Delhi, further explained the long-term impact of that policy shift, noting, ''We managed to do that for the very first time. We left that position of debtors of the IMF to the creditors of the IMF. We accrued reserves of international hard currencies of USD 360 billion. That was the third or fourth largest international reserve in the world in those days.''

Linking economic cooperation with cultural diplomacy, the President expressed appreciation for the hospitality extended by his Indian hosts, which mirrored a gesture he had earlier arranged for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

''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 Sao 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 Palacio da Alvorada in Brazil, and it was visible that he was touched by the song that we chose to play for him,'' Lula remarked.

He continued, ''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.''

Contextualising the visit within Brazil's broader diplomatic priorities, President Lula asserted, ''We are closing a cycle of international trips that was within our strategy for this third term to reclaim the image and the negotiation power that Brazil had achieved in the world. Now we decided to recover and retrieve the Image of Brazil in the world.''

Highlighting the outcomes of that strategy, President Lula stated, ''It's with great satisfaction that I can say to all of you that in just 3 years and 2 months of my term, we did more. We created 520 new markets for Brazilian goods. It's much more than we could have imagined such a short time.''

The Brazilian President arrived in India on February 18. During the period February 19-20, he participated in the India AI Impact Summit.

This is Lula's fifth visit to India as President of Brazil. The visit comes seven months after the state visit of PM Modi to Brasilia on July 8, 2025. (ANI)