Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called for greater resilience within the BRICS grouping, saying rising geopolitical tensions were adversely affecting ordinary people across the world and underlining the need for the bloc to work together to address these challenges.
Addressing the opening session of the second day of the BRICS Summit on ‘Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability: Shaping the Future for Inclusive Global Growth’, Modi also voiced concern over the “weaponisation of technology and critical minerals”, warning that it could hamper shared progress and prosperity.
The Prime Minister made the remarks in the presence of leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.
“Under India’s presidency, we have focused our efforts on four pillars: resilience, innovation, cooperation, and sustainability. I am pleased that, with your cooperation and support, we have been able to transform our shared vision into a win-win situation,” Modi said.
He said the world was witnessing a steady rise in tensions, while pandemics, climate disasters and supply chain disruptions were having an increasing impact on ordinary people.
“In today’s interconnected world, no crisis remains confined to a single region,” Modi said, stressing the need for BRICS to strengthen its resilience.
He said it was essential to identify challenges in a timely manner, remain prepared for them and take immediate action.
“With this approach, a consensus has been reached on a BRICS Integrated Early Warning System for the prevention of and response to infectious diseases,” Modi said. He added that guidelines for an early warning data integration mechanism had also been formulated.
The BRICS logistics supply chain cooperation framework would help make supply chains more reliable and resilient, he said.
Under the innovation pillar, the BRICS incubator network would connect startups and incubators across member countries, Modi said.
The Prime Minister also called on BRICS to work together to address the challenges facing the Global South, saying confidence in the grouping among developing countries had increased.
India’s BRICS presidency has focused on resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability, with an emphasis on strengthening cooperation and promoting inclusive growth across the Global South.
(With inputs from PTI)