Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday took part in the IBSA Leaders’ Meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he underlined the urgent need to reform global governance institutions, including the UN Security Council. The meeting was chaired by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and attended by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Calling the interaction “timely,” the Prime Minister noted that it coincided with the first G20 Summit being held on African soil and came at the conclusion of four consecutive G20 presidencies led by Global South nations—three of which were held by IBSA members. He said this continuity helped push forward human-centric development, sustainable growth and efforts toward multilateral reform.
PM Modi described IBSA as more than a trilateral grouping, saying it connects three continents, three major democracies and three key global economies.
Stressing that current global governance structures no longer reflect 21st-century realities, the Prime Minister called on IBSA countries to send a clear message that comprehensive reform of the UN Security Council has become imperative.
On counter-terrorism, he called for enhanced coordination among IBSA members and cautioned that there should be “no double standards” in the global fight against terrorism.
Highlighting India’s success with digital platforms, PM Modi proposed the creation of an ‘IBSA Digital Innovation Alliance’ to enable sharing of Digital Public Infrastructure such as UPI, CoWIN-like health systems, cybersecurity frameworks and women-led technology initiatives.
He also said IBSA could play a pivotal role in shaping global norms for safe, trustworthy and human-centric artificial intelligence, and invited IBSA leaders to the AI Impact Summit scheduled to be held in India next year.
Pointing to the opportunity for deeper development cooperation, the Prime Minister emphasised collaboration in millets, natural farming, disaster resilience, green energy, traditional medicine and health security.
PM Modi further appreciated the work of the IBSA Fund, which has supported projects in more than 40 countries across sectors including education, health, women’s empowerment and solar energy. He proposed establishing an “IBSA Fund for Climate Resilient Agriculture” to boost South-South cooperation in the sector.