Prime Minister Modi’s full speech at the 16th BRICS Summit in Russia

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today strongly advocated “single-mindedness” and “firm support” of all in the fight against terrorism, saying there was no room for “double standards” in tackling the challenge. Addressing the 16th BRICS summit, PM Modi also stressed the need to take “proactive steps” to stop the radicalization of the youth.

Here is PM Modi’s full speech at the BRICS summit.

Your Highness,

Excellencies,

ladies and gentlemen

Congratulations to President Putin for the excellent organization of the 16th BRICS Summit.

And once again, a warm welcome to all new friends who have joined BRICS. In its new avatar, BRICS constitutes 40 percent of the world’s humanity and about 30 percent of the world’s economy.

Over the past almost two decades, BRICS has achieved many milestones. I am convinced that in the coming times this organization will become a more effective environment for dealing with global challenges.

I would also like to extend warm greetings to Her Excellency Dilma Rousseff, President of the New Development Bank.

friends,

Over the past 10 years, this bank has emerged as an important option for the development needs of the countries of the Global South. The opening of GIFT or Gujarat International Finance Tech City in India, as well as regional centers in Africa and Russia, gave a boost to the activities of this bank. And development projects worth around $35 billion have been sanctioned. The NDB should continue to operate on a demand basis. And as we expand the bank, ensuring long-term financial sustainability, a strong credit rating and market access must remain a priority.

friends,

In its new expanded avatar, BRICS has emerged as a $30-trillion-plus economy. The BRICS Business Council and the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance have played a special role in increasing our economic cooperation.

This year, the BRICS consensus on WTO reforms, trade facilitation in agriculture, sustainable supply chains, e-commerce and special economic zones will strengthen our economic cooperation. Among all these initiatives, we must also focus on the interests of small and medium industries.

I am glad that the BRICS Startup Forum, proposed during India’s 2021 chairmanship, will be launched this year. The Railway Research Network initiative undertaken by India is also playing an important role in increasing logistics and supply chain connectivity among the BRICS countries. This year, the consensus reached by the BRICS countries, in cooperation with UNIDO, to prepare a skilled workforce for Industry 4.0 is quite important.

The BRICS Vaccine Research and Development Center, launched in 2022, is helping to increase health security in all countries. We will be happy to share India’s successful experience in digital healthcare with BRICS partners.

friends,

Climate change is our shared priority. The consensus reached on the BRICS Open Carbon Market Partnership under the chairmanship of Russia is welcome. In India, there is also a special emphasis on green growth, climate-resilient infrastructure and green transition. Indeed, India has taken several initiatives like International Solar Alliance, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, Mission LiFE ie. environmental lifestyle, Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam.

Last year, during COP-28, we launched an important initiative called Green Credit. I invite BRICS partners to join these initiatives.

Special emphasis is placed on building infrastructure in all BRICS countries. We have created a digital platform called Gati-Shakti portal to rapidly expand multimodal connectivity in India. This helped in the integrated planning and implementation of infrastructure development and reduced logistics costs.

We will be happy to share our experience with you all.

friends,

We welcome efforts to increase financial integration among the BRICS countries.

Local currency trade and smooth cross-border payments will strengthen our economic cooperation. The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) developed by India has been a huge success and has been adopted in many countries.

Last year, together with His Highness Sheikh Mohammed, it was also launched in the UAE. We can also cooperate with other BRICS countries in this area.

friends,

India is fully committed to increasing cooperation within BRICS. Our strong belief in our diversity and multipolarity is our strength. This strength of ours and our shared faith in humanity will help give meaningful shape to a prosperous and bright future for generations to come.

Thank you all for today’s very important and valuable discussions. As the next BRICS President, I extend my best wishes to President Lula. India will extend its full support to the success of your BRICS Chairmanship.

Once again, many thanks to President Putin and all the leaders.

(This is the approximate translation of the Prime Minister’s remarks. The original remarks were delivered in Hindi.)