New Delhi: A day after India and Brazil were hit with steep US tariffs, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called Prime Minister Narendra Modi – and the contrast in their public responses to the move was immediately apparent.While Lula explicitly signalled for the two countries to confront “unilateral tariffs” together, India’s official account of the conversation made no mention of the issue.On Wednesday (August 6), the White House announced that Indian exports to the US would face a 50% tariff – split between a 25% “reciprocal” rate and a 25% ‘penalty’ due to India’s continued oil imports from Russia.With this move, India joined Brazil – which also faces a 50% levy – at the top of the list of countries facing US tariffs.Brazil has been an outlier on this list because, unlike most other countries, the US maintains a trade surplus in goods with the Latin American giant.The US administration imposed the steep tariff over the trial of right-wing leader and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a close ally of US President Donald Trump.According to the Brazilian government’s Portuguese-language statement, the hour-long conversation between Lula and Modi covered “the international economic landscape and the imposition of unilateral tariffs”.It noted that “Brazil and India are the two most affected countries to date” and said both leaders had “reaffirmed the importance of defending multilateralism and the need to address the current challenges, as well as exploring opportunities for greater integration between the two countries”.In contrast, the Indian government readout made no mention of tariffs or economic pressures. It merely stated that “the two leaders exchanged views on various regional and global issues of mutual interest”.Instead, the Indian statement highlighted that Modi had recalled his July visit to Brazil, during which the two sides “agreed on a framework to strengthen cooperation in trade, technology, energy, defence, agriculture, health and people-to-people ties”.Earlier, on Wednesday, Modi said at a public event that he was prepared to “pay a big price” for his government’s refusal to compromise on farmers’ interests. Although the remarks were widely seen as a response to the US tariffs, he did not mention them explicitly or refer to Trump.The Indian ministry of external affairs had termed the additional tariffs for buying Russian oil as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”.Lula has been consistently more outspoken, stating that the tariffs were unacceptable, and refused to speak directly with Trump. He also bristled at Trump linking the tariffs to the ongoing case against Bolsonaro for plotting to overturn the 2022 elections.“But this now is not a small intervention. It’s the president of the United States thinking he can dictate rules for a sovereign country like Brazil. It’s unacceptable,” he told Reuters.Meanwhile, Brazil also said the two sides had “recalled the goal of increasing bilateral trade to more than $20 billion by 2030” and had “agreed to expand the coverage of the agreement between MERCOSUR and India”.The Brazilian government also confirmed Lula’s state visit to India in early 2026, with a preparatory visit by Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin planned for October.He will be accompanied by ministers and business leaders to participate in the Trade Monitoring Mechanism meeting, where cooperation in trade, defence, energy, critical minerals, health and digital inclusion will be discussed.Brasilia’s statement said the two leaders “talked about the successes of the BRICS Summit in Brazil and working together to transition the next presidency of the bloc that will be in charge of India.”The Indian readout did not specifically mention BRICS but said the two leaders would “remain in touch”.