Washington, mar 20:
US President Donald Trump has said that he intends to designate Brazil as a “major non-NATO ally”, a move aimed to cement America’s ties with the Latin American country where China has made deep strides in recent years. The move by Trump gains significance as Brazil is a key member of the powerful five-nation BRICS grouping and has joined hands with India, Japan and Germany to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Notably, Trump’s America considers two of its members, Russia and China, as major threats to its national security, while it is taking all steps to strengthen and deepen ties with India and Brazil.
Trump made the announcement during a joint Rose Garden press conference at the White House with visiting Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday. “We had a great meeting today. As I told President Bolsonaro, I intend to designate Brazil as a major non-NATO Ally, or even possibly, if you start thinking about it, maybe a NATO ally. We have to talk to a lot of people, but maybe a NATO ally,” Trump said.
The two countries, he said, are already working together to protect people from terrorism, transnational crime, drugs and weapons trafficking.
“We look forward to an even deeper partnership and working together,” he said. “In our meetings, we also discussed the strong economic ties between our nations, grounded in the principles of fairness and reciprocity. My favourite word: reciprocity,” the US president said. Bolsonaro, who was often referred to as “Tropical Trump” before his election, said his meeting with the US president has started a new chapter of cooperation between Brazil and the United States.
“Inasmuch as today, we have revisited and have again decided to promote matters that were on our order of business for decades,” he said.
