Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said BRICS, which is marking its 20th anniversary, has reached its “coming of age” moment and must now work towards a new and ambitious agenda for the next two decades.
Addressing the opening session of the 18th BRICS Summit on “Inclusive Global Governance and Strengthening Multilateralism” in New Delhi, PM Modi said India’s BRICS chairship has been guided by a people-centric and humanity-first approach.
“Resilience, innovation, cooperation, and sustainability have been our priorities. Alongside these priorities, we have placed special emphasis on connecting BRICS cooperation with the common people,” PM Modi said.
He said more than 350 meetings were organised during India’s chairship, with participating teams hosted in around 30 cities.
PM Modi said BRICS has established a distinct identity on the global stage and emphasised that the grouping is not against any country or bloc.
“We respect each other’s perspectives and move forward through consensus. We are not against anyone; rather, we strive to move forward with the approach of taking everyone along,” he said.
Referring to the grouping’s 20th anniversary, Modi said the milestone marked the beginning of a new phase of maturity and responsibility.
“Today, BRICS too has arrived at its ‘coming of age’ moment. Over the past 20 years, BRICS has established a distinct identity on the global stage,” he said.
The prime minister said the grouping must now translate its internal unity and consensus into tangible outcomes globally and proposed the creation of a “BRICS Continuity and Implementation Mechanism”.
“Since the BRICS presidency rotates every year, our institutional momentum should not be disrupted because of it. Therefore, I propose the establishment of a ‘BRICS Continuity and Implementation Mechanism’. This would enable the follow-up of all initiatives and outcomes through the ‘Troika’ arrangement,” PM Modi said.
He also called for a greater focus on reforming global governance, saying the Global South continues to be at the forefront of global crises but remains underrepresented in decision-making.
“The current structure of global governance resembles a pyramid: power and decision-making are concentrated at the top, while the lower tiers consist of nations that are affected by these decisions yet unable to shape them,” PM Modi said.
He called for transforming the existing “pyramid of privilege” into a “platform of partnership” where every nation has a voice and every member has a stake.
To advance the reform agenda, PM Modi proposed that BRICS countries jointly formulate 10 proposals for global governance reform and develop them into a BRICS reform roadmap by the next summit.
(IANS Inputs)
