Written By: Shankhyaneel Sarkar
Last Updated: August 23, 2023, 16:38 IST
Johannesburg, South Africa
PM Modi addresses the plenary session during the 2023 BRICS Summit at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Image: Reuters)
PM Modi said India supports BRICS expansion and proposed that member-states work together in the fields of space, conservation, education, skill-mapping and traditional medicine.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that India supports expansion of the multilateral forum BRICS while addressing the open plenary session of the 15th BRICS Summit.
“India fully supports the expansion of BRICS, we welcome moving forward with consensus on this,” PM Modi said.
PM Modi also shared five suggestions to BRICS leaders at the BRICS Summit being held in Johannesburg, South Africa.
“BRICS will be Breaking Barriers, Revitalising Economies, Inspiring Innovations, Creating Opportunities and Shaping Futures,” PM Modi said.
PM Modi said that the organization has made some big achievement and undertaken a long journey in the last 16 years. “In around two decades, BRICS has undertaken a long and magnificent journey. In this journey, we made numerous achievements. To make BRICS a future-ready organization, we will need to make our respective societies also future-ready, and technology will play an important role in this,” PM Modi said.
PM Modi then offered five suggestions to further strengthen the multilateral forum consisting of nations Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa who together represent 42% of the world’s population along with a significant 27% of the global GDP.
The Prime Minister suggested setting up a BRICS Space Exploration Consortium which will help BRICS nations conduct space research and monitor weather.
He said BRICS can help the world by becoming future ready by making societies future-ready and said member nations can work together to prioritize education and skill development using technological tools.
He cited the example of DIKSHA Portal and said such a tool can be developed for BRICS nations. He also said that an AI-based language platform to remove language barriers.
“Diversity is our strength; our diversity has helped us cross adversities. These solutions can be implemented anywhere across the globe,” PM Modi said.
PM Modi also proposed setting up a tool amongst BRICS members for better skill mapping.
PM Modi also highlighted that all the BRICS nations are homes to Big Cats and suggested that these nations can come together for protecting biodiversity.
He said BRICS nations can work together with International Big Cats Conservation to ensure that these big cats found in BRICS nations continue to remain protected in the wild.
PM Modi also proposed BRICS members to come together and work in the field of traditional medicines. He said BRICS nations can create a repository of traditional medicines.
He highlighted that the betterment of Global South is in India’s agenda for the G20.
“We welcome the move to give special importance to the countries of the global south in BRICS under the chairmanship of South Africa. India has also given importance to this subject under its G20 presidency,” PM Modi said.
Responding to PM Modi’s statement on BRICS expansion, South African President and BRICS chair for 2023 Cyril Ramaphosa said: “Heartened to hear India supports expansion of the BRICS”.
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