India has pledged to explore "peaceful uses of nuclear energy" with Brazil and South Africa in an agreement that could bolster a proposed deal with the US allowing it access to nuclear technology for civilian purposes.

Manmohan Singh, India's prime minister, this week met Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil's president, and Thabo Mbeki, president of South Africa, at a three-way trade summit in Brasília that aimed to forge closer ties between the countries.