By IANS/EFE,
Washington : Brazil and the US have signed a military cooperation pact.
Brazilian Defence Minister Nelson Jobim and US Defence Secretary Robert Gates signed the agreement here Monday.
The Brazilian government emphasised that the pact does not include giving the US Armed Forces access to any military bases in Brazil. It denied media reports, which compared the pact with the one signed between Washington and Bogota that allows US soldiers to set up bases in that country.
The ceremony took place at the Pentagon, where Jobim held a private meeting with Gates.
The Brazilian minister is accompanying President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to a Nuclear Security Summit here that began Monday.
The pact creates a cooperative framework to organise mutual visits by military delegations from the US and Brazil, collaborate on technical matters and joint military training, among others.
It also facilitates purchase of weapons and cooperation in military technology projects.