New Delhi: Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva accompanied by his wife Rosângela da Silva landed in New Delhi on Friday to attend the G20 Summit scheduled to be held in India on September 9,10.

Brazil President was received at the airport by the Union Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai.

India and Brazil share a close and multifaceted relationship based on shared democratic values and convergence of views on many global issues, according to a release from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

The two countries cooperate not only bilaterally but also at plurilateral fora such as BRICS, IBSA, G20 and in multilateral bodies such as the UN and WTO, among others. IndiaBrazil relations were elevated to a Strategic Partnership in 2006, thereby heralding a new phase in bilateral ties, it added.

India’s relationship with Brazil has continued to grow over the past decade with various high-level exchanges and got further intensified in 2019 and early 2020 with back-to-back VVIP visits.

PM Modi met then-President Jair Bolsonaro on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka on June 29, 2019. Key issues of bilateral importance were discussed during the meetings, opening up opportunities on both sides to take the strategic partnership forward.

PM Modi also attended the XI BRICS Summit in Brasilia on November 13-14, 2019. He also held a bilateral meeting with President Bolsonaro on the sidelines of the summit on November 13, 2019.

At the invitation of PM Modi, President Bolsonaro paid a State visit to India from January 25-27, 2020. He was also the Chief Guest at the Republic Day Parade on January 26, 2020.

Meanwhile, ahead of the summit, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra on Friday said, "The coming together of the 41 Heads of delegations, Heads of State/Govt, and Heads of international organisations in India, starting yesterday is under PM's personal leadership and direction. It is essentially a celebration of the coming together of the G 20 family...This is the largest-ever participation of the Global South in India."

India assumed the G20 presidency on December 1 last year and about 200 meetings related to G20 were organized in 60 cities across the country.

The 18th G20 Summit will be a culmination of all the G20 processes and meetings held throughout the year among ministers, senior officials, and civil societies.