New Delhi: Chairing the 13th BRICS Leaders’ Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that in the last 15 years since the grouping’s formation it has achieved a lot and become an influential voice for emerging economies of the world.
In his opening remarks at the summit held in virtual format, Modi said that India has received full cooperation from all BRICS partners – Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa- during its chairship, and expressed gratitude for that.
He said that despite the Covid situation affecting the world over the past year, over 150 meetings and events of the grouping were organised. These included over 20 ministerial-level meetings.
“We will have to ensure that BRICS yields more results ahead”, he said, adding that the theme of today’s summit ‘BRICS@15: Intra-BRICS cooperation for continuity, consolidation and consensus’, reflects this priority.
He said the four Cs will become pillars of the BRICS partnership.
He said BRICS achieved many firsts under India’s chairship. “Our water resources ministers will meet in the BRICS format for the first time in November this year,” he said, adding that the grouping also organised the first digital summit in the past year.
He said the BRICS Alliance on Green Tourism is another new initiative started under India’s chairship. The grouping also adopted the BRICS Counter-Terrorism Action Plan, he said, adding that the space agencies of the five countries are working together in remote sensing satellite constellations.
Modi said that intra-BRICS trade will get easier with better cooperation between the customs departments of the five countries.
“BRICS has started several strong organizations like the New Development Bank, the Contingency Reserve Arrangement and Energy Research Cooperation Platform,” he added.
India has outlined four priority areas for its Chairship. These are Reform of the Multilateral System, Counter Terrorism, Using Digital and Technological Tools for achieving SDGs and Enhancing People to People exchanges. In addition to these areas, the leaders will also exchange views on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and other current global and regional issues.
This is the second time Prime Minister Modi is chairing the BRICS Summit. He had chaired the Goa Summit in 2016. The Indian Chairship of BRICS this year coincides with the fifteenth anniversary of BRICS. (UNI)