Brazil seeks closer ties with India in science, health, space – Science Minister Pontes

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil’s science and technology minister Marcos Pontes said his country would like to procure additional Covid-19 vaccines from strategic partner India and is keen to form a joint working group of scientists with it to address health challenges, including future pandemics.

“Like India, we are a big country and have a relatively big population. We want to vaccinate the entire population and would like to procure additional vaccines from India,” Pontes told Economic Times in an exclusive interview at the beginning of his weeklong India visit.

Pontes, who is the among first few ministers to visit India so far this year, will meet his counterpart besides the health minister and scientists in Bengaluru. He will also witness the launch of Brazilian satellite Amazonia-1 from Sriharikota.

Brazil received a second batch of 2 million shots of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine from India on Tuesday. The first batch of 2 million AstraZeneca NSE 1.10 % doses was delivered in January.

Pontes pointed out that it is not just vaccines which brought him to India. “I want to do a match-making between scientists from Brazil and India who are working on Covid-19 and other similar health challenges, like dengue and chikungunia. We can produce some common solutions,” he said.

The use of artificial intelligence and nanotechnology in medicine is also a priority for Brazil, the minister said.

Similarly, Brazil is keen to collaborate with India in the space sector. “We have been following India’s space program and its SU Ds’ over the last decade. I am keen to explore match-making in space sector that could see Indian space experts also working from Brazilian facilities.”

Pontes, a former Air Force pilot and an astronaut who has worked with both NASA & Russian space agency, is also keen to push partnership in the startups sector in both bilateral as well as BRICS context.

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