Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 13: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday highlighted India’s four key priorities during its BRICS presidency, resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability, and called upon the member countries to recognise the “dangers of weaponisation” of technology and critical minerals pointing out that no crisis remain confined to within a region now a days.
Delivering an address at the concluding session of the BRICS Summit at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, Mr Modi pointed at the rising geopolitical tensions adversely impacting the ordinary people globally and underlined that weaponisation of technology and critical minerals could undo all the gains the world has achieved so far on shared progress and prosperity. He said BRICS must rise through cooperation and inclusive growth to meet these challenges and blossom for the sake of humanity.
With Chinese President Xi Jinping in attendance on the second day of the BRICS Summit, PM Modi pointed out that a large number of geopolitical tensions erupting across the world are affecting all nations without exceptions. “The world is witnessing increasing tensions, having a significant negative impact on the lives of ordinary people. Pandemics, climate disasters and supply chain disruptions have demonstrated that in today’s interconnected world, no crisis remains confined to a single region,” PM Modi said.
Though Mr Modi did not point out specific examples, the comments come amid the global energy supply disruptions due to the US-Iran war which has paralysed the critical shipping lane, Strait of Hormuz. His address also made a reference to the COVID-19 pandemic – said to have spread from China’s Wuhan – that reached all corners of the globe eventually and killed lakhs of people.
Earlier, the Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled initiatives in areas ranging from AI to trade to deepen cooperation among the “Greater BRICS” emerging economies, as Beijing seeks to weld the grouping into a practical platform for Global South development.
Highlighting India’s four key priorities, the Prime Minister said India had focused its efforts on these four pillars of resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability and expressed satisfaction that the grouping had been able to turn its shared vision into “win-win collaboration” with the support of member countries.
Mr Modi stressed the importance of resilience at a time when global tensions were increasing and affecting ordinary people. He said pandemics, climate disasters and supply chain disruptions have shown that in an interconnected world, the impact of a crisis can extend far beyond the region where it originated.
“Today, the number of tensions in the world is constantly rising,” Modi said, adding that such developments were having a “significant and widespread negative impact” on people’s lives. He said BRICS had therefore placed special emphasis on strengthening resilience and stressed the need to identify challenges early, remain prepared and take immediate action.
As part of this effort, Mr Modi said consensus had been reached on a BRICS Integrated Early Warning System for the prevention of and response to infectious diseases. He also announced that Early Warning Data Integration Guidelines had been formulated for disaster management.
Speaking about sustainability, PM Modi said India’s approach was rooted in the country’s civilisational belief that nature is revered as a mother. He said development and environmental protection should not be viewed as alternatives.
“In Indian civilization, nature is revered as a mother,” Modi said, adding that development and the environment are “not alternatives to each other, but are complementary.” He said BRICS had also focused on maintaining a balance between human development and the environment, describing this as the foundation of sustainability and an obligation towards future generations. Several initiatives have been taken in this direction, including a BRICS Digital Center of Excellence for smart grids and energy storage. According to Modi, the centre would help make clean energy systems more reliable, efficient and accessible.
He also highlighted Centres of Excellence for agro-ecology and regenerative agriculture, which will seek to combine traditional knowledge with modern science. Principles for community-based climate adaptation have also been formulated, with indigenous knowledge being positioned as an important foundation for climate action.
Innovation has emerged as another major area of India’s BRICS agenda. Modi said the BRICS Incubator Network would connect startups and incubators across member countries. India has also proposed a BRICS Startup Innovation Fund to promote innovative and scalable solutions. At the same time, the BRICS Network on Digital Agriculture was expected to create new opportunities for farmers by aligning artificial intelligence, geospatial technology and digital public infrastructure with their practical needs.
The Prime Minister also highlighted the BRICS MSME cooperation portal, which has been launched to connect small enterprises with knowledge, finance and new markets. Under the cooperation pillar, Mr Modi highlighted the BRICS Connect initiative, which has promoted skills, employability, women’s participation in the workforce, social security and capacity building. He also announced the establishment of a BRICS Urban Mobility Hub, aimed at facilitating the exchange of best practices among cities of BRICS countries.
Another key initiative highlighted by Modi was the BRICS Logistic Supply Chain Cooperation Framework, which he said would help make supply chains more reliable and resilient. He said India’s approach has been to expand BRICS cooperation beyond governments and ensure that different sections of society can participate in the grouping’s activities. “India has advanced the spirit of friendship, partnership, and cooperation through the BRICS platform,” Modi said.
He added that India had sought to ensure that BRICS cooperation was not restricted to governments, but also involved entrepreneurs, farmers, researchers, women, youth and ordinary citizens. He expressed satisfaction that, with the support of BRICS partners, the grouping had been able to translate its shared vision into practical cooperation and “win-win” outcomes.
The summit, attended by a galaxy of world leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, assumed greater significance as it unfolded against a backdrop of escalating geopolitical headwinds driven by the Russia-Ukraine war, West Asia instability and new U.S. tariff policies.
Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a new insurance mechanism and a collaborative initiative for the grain market among the BRICS nations as he called upon the grouping to adopt a holistic approach in combating pressing global challenges.
Mr Putin proposed the new initiatives for economic growth among the BRICS member nations as well as the Global South nations amid crippling sanctions imposed by the Western powers on Moscow for its war on Ukraine.
The G-7 countries, the European Union and the U.K. prohibited Western companies from insuring any ship transporting Russian crude unless the oil was purchased at or below a specified price cap. The sanctions relating to the insurance sector have adversely impacted Russian crude oil exports.
“We have independent routes for moving capital, labour and technologies. In fact, we can operate regardless of outside pressure,” Mr Putin said at the concluding session of the 18th BRICS summit. “We have some promising initiatives going forward, such as creating an insurance mechanism and a grain market. These are Russian proposals, and we invite all other member states to make use of those,” he said without elaborating further. Mr Putin also complimented the functioning of the New Development Bank (NDB), saying it is handling projects worth $140 billion.
Before the address, the leaders posed for a group photo at central Delhi’s Bharat Mandapam. PM Modi is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with leaders of South Africa, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Egypt, Burundi, Uganda and Nigeria during the day.