New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday addressed a virtual summit of the BRICS grouping. Asserting that terrorism is the “biggest problem” facing the world, PM Modi said, “Terrorism is the biggest problem the world is facing today. We have to ensure that the countries that support the terrorists are held accountable and this problem is tackled in an organised manner,” in an oblique reference to Pakistan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping shared the same virtual platform within a week for the second time. The leaders of Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) discussed the economic recovery amid the Covid-19 pandemic. At the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Modi has participated in the virtual Brics summit with the theme “Global stability, shared security and innovative growth”.
In his address, Modi also underlined the need for reform of the United Nations Security Council as well as multilateral bodies like the World Trade Organisation and the International Monetary Fund. He also said that questions are being raised on the credibility of these institutions; reason is that they have not changed with the times. They are still at 75 years old thinking. There is a need to reform the Security Council of India. In this we need the support of BRICS Partners.
PM Modi also said, “we have started a comprehensive reform process under the ‘Self-reliant India’ campaign. The campaign is based on the belief that a self-reliant and resilient India post-COVID can be a force multiplier for the global economy and make a strong contribution to the global value chains.We also saw an example during Covid, when we were able to send essential medicines to more than 150 countries due to the capability of the Indian pharma industry. Our vaccine production and delivery capacity will also work in the interest of humanity like this.”