Brazilian curves

For many Indians familiar with the bureaucratic obsession to create administrative capitals away from the noise and chaos of old cities, the capital of Brazil, Brasilia, does not come as a surprise. Brasilia resembles Chandigarh and not without a reason. Many of its buildings are built by Oscar Niemeyer, 99, the most famous disciple of the French architect, Le Corbusier, who built Chandigarh.

Brasilia's city architecture is based on a parked aircraft and it has buildings that show Niemeyer's love for curves. Although the city has been under construction since 1957, there are large tracts of land which cry to be filled up with people, mortar or something as nebulous as soul.

Brazil's large mass - it is 2.6 times bigger than India - has been attracting companies and people from all over the world. They are reportedly snapping up land to grow sugarcane and produce ethanol - increasingly used as a bio-fuel to run cars. Here land is extremely cheap ($1,000 to a hectare) and national laws give equal rights to foreigners.

For some time now, the Indian government has been keen to find out whether they could access Brazil's ethanol technology and also engage in sugarcane cultivation. Working closely with Brazil during the WTO negotiations gave Indians the confidence to deepen their relationship with the Latin American giant. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to take part in the summit-level deliberations with Brazilian President Lula Inacio Lula Da Silva and South African President Thabo Mbeki clearly suggested that the three countries were keen to build a compact that straddled three continents.

A business delegation also preceded the prime minister's visit to sniff out opportunities. There were reports that Indian sugar barons were buying land in Brazil to grow sugarcane and manufacture ethanol. Government companies were also supposed to form a consortium and pick 1,00,000 hectares to produce ethanol to help in energy security. However, these moves proved to be still-born.

Singh's decision to travel to Brasilia at a time when Lula was going in for a re-election made this trip more interesting. It was one of the election promises of the Brazilian leader that he would forge ties with India and other countries of the South. So, in many ways, Singh, by participating in the summit, helped him in his election campaign. Lula's speeches, too, during the summit, seemed to be directed at his domestic constituency.

The joint summit declaration expressed the resolve to work together and build on the complementary factors that exist between India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA). They promised to cooperate closely on Brazil's ethanol initiative and hoped it would help in reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

However, IBSA failed to take off as the summit was shorn of politics and emphasised too much on the business aspects. Indian businessmen - unlike the Chinese who are major trade partners of Brazil - seemed lukewarm to the idea of investing in Brazil due to the distance and language. So, is it another walkover to China?