New Delhi: The BRICS countries, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, have adopted the Counter-Terrorism Action Plan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday while chairing the 13th Leaders’ Summit of the grouping.
A PMO statement later said that “all BRICS partners agreed to accelerate implementation of the BRICS Action Plan on Counter-Terrorism”.
Prime Minister Modi, in a virtual address to the BRICS countries – represented by Presidents, Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, Vladimir Putin of Russia, Xi Jinping of China, and Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, said the past year saw several firsts, including a collective position on strengthening and reforming of the multilateral systems, and the first ever BRICS digital summit on health, despite the challenges posed by Covid.
He said more than 150 BRICS meetings and programs were organized, of which more than 20 were at the Ministerial level.
He said that along with enhancing cooperation in traditional areas, “we have also made efforts to further expand the BRICS agenda”.
“In this context, BRICS has achieved several ‘Firsts’ meaning there were several things that were done for the first time,” he said, referring to the first ever BRICS digital health summit held on September 3.
“This is an innovative step to increase health access with the help of technology,” he said, and added that in November, the Water Resources Ministers of the five countries will be meeting for the first time under the BRICS format.
“It is also the first time that BRICS has taken a collective position on ‘Strengthening and Reforming Multilateral Systems’.
“We have also adopted the BRICS Counter Terrorism Action Plan,” he said.
PM Modi said the agreement on Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation between the space agencies of the five countries a new chapter of cooperation has begun. “With cooperation between our Customs departments, intra- BRICS trade will become easier.
“There has also been a consensus with regards to starting a virtual BRICS Vaccination Research and Development Centre. The BRICS Alliance on green tourism is also another new initiative,” he added.
He said India has received full cooperation from all BRICS partners and from everybody during its Chairmanship and expressed gratitude to the members for this.
“The BRICS platform has witnessed several achievements in the last one and a half decades. Today we are an influential voice for the emerging economies of the world. This platform has also been useful for focusing attention on the priorities of developing nations as well,” he added.
He outlined the institutions that BRICS has created, like the New Development Bank, the Contingency Reserve Arrangement and the Energy Research Cooperation Platform.
“These are all very strong institutions. There is no doubt that there is much we can be proud of. However, it is also important that we do not become too self-satisfied and we must ensure that BRICS is even more result oriented in the next 15 years,” the Prime Minister emphasised.
The theme India has selected for its tenure of Chairmanship is ‘BRICS@15: Intra BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation and Consensus’. PM Modi said the four Cs are in a way the fundamental principles of our BRICS partnership.
He said all the new initiatives will not only benefit our citizens but will also enable BRICS as an institution to remain relevant in the coming years.
The PMO, in a statement, said that highlighting the leading role that BRICS countries can play in the post-COVID global recovery, Prime Minister Modi called for enhanced BRICS cooperation under the motto of ‘Build-back Resiliently, Innovatively, Credibly and Sustainably’.
Elaborating on these themes, the Prime Minister stressed the need for accelerating ‘build-back’ by enhancing speed and accessibility of vaccination, creating ‘resilience’ by diversifying pharma and vaccine production capacities beyond the developed world, fostering ‘innovation’ by creatively using digital tools for public good, ensuring reform of multilateral institutions to enhance their ‘credibility’, and promoting ‘sustainable’ development by articulating a common BRICS voice on environmental and climate issues.
The leaders also discussed important regional and global issues, including recent developments in Afghanistan.
There was convergence of views on the threat posed by growth of terrorism and extremism, and all BRICS partners agreed to accelerate implementation of the BRICS Action Plan on Counter-Terrorism.
At the conclusion of the Summit, the leaders adopted the ‘New Delhi Declaration’, it said.
