Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s participates in the 6thBRICS Summit
Days: 03
Places visited- Brasilia, Fortaleza (Brazil)
People met: Leaders of BRICS nations, leader of South American nations
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi participated in the 6th BRICS Summit held in Brazil. In his official statement before leaving for the Summit, PM expressed, “I look forward to our discussions to further advance intra-BRICS economic cooperation and our collective efforts to advance global economic stability and prosperity. In particular, I look forward to the successful conclusion of major BRICS initiatives, like the New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement, which have seen significant progress since their launch in New Delhi in 2012.”
India attaches high importance to the BRICS forum for promoting global economic growth, peace and stability. This year, with the theme, “Inclusive Growth; Sustainable Development", the Summit will enable the participating nations to shape the post-2015 Development Agenda being discussed in the United Nations. The PM also highlighted, “For us, inclusion is a special challenge and responsibility; given our vast social, regional and economic diversity” he said.
Addressing the Sixth BRICS Summit in Fortaleza, Brazil, the PM called upon the member-countries of BRICS to urgently work towards addressing the challenges of global economic weakness, and political turmoil. He thanked President Zuma for his leadership during South Africa’s Chairmanship of BRICS, and extended best wishes to Brazil, as it assumes the chair. He expressed India’s full support in taking the BRICS agenda forward.
During his meeting with members of the BRICS Business Council, the PM said that economic forces are becoming increasingly important in global relationships, and domains like Trade, Technology, Tourism, Talent and Tradition have the power to redefine existing paradigms. He reiterated that “India remains committed to partnering with African countries in their development initiatives.”He noted that various enabling agreements and MoUs have already been signed between BRICS Development Banks to promote intra-BRICS trade and investment.
A very significant step towards development of this region was setting up of the BRICS New Development Bank. It will not only benefit BRICS nations but also support other developing nati ons. The first CEO of the BRICS Bank will be from India.
The agreement on the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement is another major achievement.
The PM also suggested the establishment of Massive Open Online Courses for making quality education accessible to all. “We could even explore the idea of a BRICS University. The vast pool of talent in BRICS could be combined to cooperate in areas like: health, education, agriculture, resource management and urban development. Other areas to focus are affordable healthcare platform of BRICS nations, a mechanism to further cooperation, between our Small and Medium enterprises and a common framework for promoting Tourism among BRICS countries,” he pointed.
The PM expressed that the region stretching from Afghanistan to Africa is experiencing turbulence and conflict. He said, “This is causing grave instability that is fast seeping across borders. This impacts us all. Remaining mute spectators to countries being torn up in this manner can have grave consequences.”
Speaking about the issue of Terrorism, he said “Terrorism is a threat that has assumed war-like proportions. It is in fact a proxy war aimed at innocent civilians. Due to different yardsticks the international community has not been able to combat terror effectively.” There should be Zero Tolerance towards Terrorism and this was categorically affirmed by the PM.
“BRICS must translate our political resolve into a concrete and coordinated Plan of Action. I call for an early adoption by the UN, of the draft Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism. BRICS is in a position today where it wields enough horizontal influence to compel the world to take notice,” he noted.
PM meets Chinese President Xi Jinping at the sidelines of BRICS Summit
The Prime Ministermet the Chinese President Xi Jinping at the sidelines of the BRICS Summit. The two leaders discussed that India and China have enormous opportunities to not only forge mutually beneficial partnerships, but also serve as catalytic agents of Asian and global prosperity. President Xi Jinping underscored the importance of the bilateral relationship and said: When India and China meet, the whole world watches.
They expressed satisfaction at the high momentum of bilateral engagement during the past few weeks, including the visit of Vice-President of India Shri Hamid Ansari to China and the visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to India as President Jinping’s Special Envoy, in June.
The PM suggested opening of a second route for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.
China invited India to APEC meeting in November and called for India to deepen engagement with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
PM meets Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff
During their meeting at the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, both the Indian PM and the Brazilian President called for expanding bilateral ties, and stress on the need for reform of the United Nations
Describing Brazil as a key global partner for India, PM noted that as two democracies and major emerging economies, India and Brazil not only had vast potential for bilateral cooperation, but also to strengthen each other in international forums and advance the interest of the developing world at large.
President Rousseff emphasized the special place this relationship enjoyed in Brazil`s foreign policy, because of the potential for bilateral cooperation and the international significance of their partnership.
The two leaders also agreed to take steps to further expand and diversify trade and investment flows and deepen cooperation in agriculture and dairy science, conventional and renewable energy, space research and applications, defence, cyber security and environment conservation. They also agreed to intensify their cooperation in international forums and multilateral institutions, including the G20.
Prime Minister expressed hope that he would be able to visit Brazil on a full bilateral visit soon and invited President Rousseff to visit India.
A total of 3 MoUs were signed between the two countries.
- MoU on cooperation in the field of environment
- Implementing arrangement establishing cooperation in augmentation of a Brazilian earth station for receiving and processing data from Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) Satellites
- MoU on cooperation in the field of mobility and consular issues.
PM meets Russian President Vladimir Putin 
The Prime Minister also met Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit. He conveyed his sincere appreciation and admiration for President Putin’s decisive leadership in deepening and expanding the India-Russia special and privileged strategic partnership.
The PM expressed deep appreciation for Russia’s friendship and unstinting bilateral and international support for India’s economic development and security since the early days of India’s independence. He reaffirmed that relations with Russia will continue to enjoy the priority in India’s foreign policy. He said he looks forward to working with President Putin to further deepen and broad-base the strategic partnership including in the areas of defence, nuclear energy, space, energy, trade and investment, people-to-people contacts and addressing regional and global challenges.
The two leaders looked forward to their Annual Summit in Delhi in December 2014 as an opportunity to outline a bold vision and roadmap for their relationship in the years ahead.
Meeting with South American leaders
The Prime Minister underlined the fact that South America has tremendous potential. It is blessed, with vast resources and talent. It can become an important pillar of the global economy. In the face of economic uncertainty its growth can be crucial for global prosperity. He said, “In a globalised and inter-connected world, our destinies are inter-linked. We are all bound, by shared aspirations and common challenges. We all have a stake in each other's success.”
He enumerated that we must all unite:
- To seek faster growth and newer avenues of generating prosperity.
- To find solutions to the challenge of poverty.
- To preserve our environment, and use our resources well.
With a hope that the discussion would throw up new ideas for partnership between BRICS and South America, he invited more ideas from all the nations participating.
He noted that India's trade with South America has shown strong growth in recent years. There is however scope to achieve a lot more. From hydrocarbons to pharma, textiles to leather, engineering goods to automobiles; the range of opportunities is enormous.We must utilize, the Preferential Trade Agreement between India and the MERCOSUR Trade Block, and Chile, more effectively, he affirmed.
He said, “I firmly believe, the possibilities of cooperation are limited not by distance but only by our imagination and efforts.” We have much to learn from each other, in our journey towards inclusive and sustainable development. We must share with each other, our experiences, best practices and innovative solutions.
Therefore, the visit of the Prime Minister to Brazil witnessed increased diplomatic activity and expanded avenues of cooperation with the world and this will help the people of India in the years to come.
