Brazil and India signed a series of agreements during President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's three-day state visit to New Delhi covering critical minerals and pharmaceutical technology, but the trip fell short of one of its most commercially significant objectives after negotiations to open the Indian market to Brazilian chicken and eggs collapsed, Folha de S.Paulo reported.

On the minerals front, the two countries signed a framework memorandum of understanding on rare earths and critical minerals, covering cooperation across exploration, processing, recycling and infrastructure development.

It names lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper and rare earth elements as priorities — all critical inputs for electric vehicle batteries and clean energy equipment.

A Joint Working Group will be created to develop an implementation roadmap, and a mining investment platform is envisaged to bring private companies from both countries together and facilitate joint ventures.

O Globo noted the document remains a memorandum of intent, with concrete commitments dependent on further instruments yet to be negotiated.

On pharmaceuticals, the visit yielded technology transfer agreements for drugs to treat skin cancer, breast cancer and leukaemia, as well as for peptides — the platform underlying weight-loss injection pens.

Brazil's public health system, the SUS, will invest BRL10bn ($1.92bn) over 10 years to manufacture the cancer drugs domestically, with technology transferred to institutions such as Fiocruz and Bionovis.

Health Minister Alexandre Padilha said the model will use the SUS's purchasing power to guarantee Indian suppliers a ten-year procurement commitment in exchange for technology, equipment and training.

A separate deal between Fiocruz and India's Serum Institute covers joint development of biological drugs, vaccines and diagnostic tests.

However, the trip's most commercially prized objective in agribusiness went unachieved. The Lula government failed to finalise the opening of the Indian poultry and egg market, heading back home without what had been one of the most anticipated outcomes of the visit, Folha reported.

A key sticking point was India's demand for reciprocal access: Indian negotiators objected that Brazil had declined to accept Indian pomegranates and dairy products, according to government and industry sources cited by Folha.

The failure is commercially significant. Brazil is the world's largest chicken exporter, accounting for approximately 35% of the global market according to the Ministry of Agriculture, and India — the world's most populous country — is a major consumer of poultry, which is the primary source of animal protein there. Beef consumption is minimal given cultural and religious traditions around cows.

Negotiations between the two BRICS founding countries had been under way since at least October, when Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin visited New Delhi in preparation for Lula's trip, accompanied by representatives from the animal protein sector.

On the more recent visit, the Brazilian delegation again included business leaders from the protein industry, with agribusiness among the main participants according to export promotion agency Apex.

The setback carries strategic weight beyond the lost sales opportunity. Brazil's government has been actively seeking to diversify its poultry export markets following a bruising experience with China last year, when Beijing suspended Brazilian chicken imports for around six months after a case of avian influenza was detected on a farm in Rio Grande do Sul.

Although Brazil received its influenza-free certification within weeks, the ban remained in force for months. When the Chinese market eventually reopened, poultry exports jumped approximately 17.5% the following month, according to S&P data.

Lula travelled onward from New Delhi to South Korea on February 22, where a separate set of negotiations will seek to open up the beef market in that country.