India supports dialogue and diplomacy, not war: PM Modi at BRICS Summit

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday cleared stated that “India supports dialogue and diplomacy, not war to resolve global conflicts” at the Brics summit in Russia’s Kazan city.

On further expansion of the grouping, the Prime Minister said that the decision “should be taken by consensus, and that the views of Brics founding members (including India) should be respected”.

In January this year, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia and the UAE had joined the grouping as new members, adding to the existing Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, taking the total number of members to nine. A group photo taken at the summit showed leaders of the nine member-nations standing together in solidarity.

In the obvious backdrop of reports and widespread speculation that nations such as Pakistan and Turkey want to join the grouping, Modi said “the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures adopted during the Johannesburg summit (last year) should be complied with by all members and partner countries”. He, however, made it clear that “India is ready to welcome (more) new countries as partner countries” of the grouping.

Modi further told the grouping that “we have to give the world the message that Brics is not a divisive organisation but one that works in the interest of humanity”, and warned that “we must be careful to ensure that this organisation does not acquire the image of one that is trying to replace global institutions, instead of being perceived as one that wishes to reform them”.

In a veiled message to China, that is seen to have stonewalled UN action against Pakistan-based terrorists repeatedly, Modi said “in order to counter terrorism and terror financing, we need the single-minded, firm support of all”, and that “there is no place for double standards on this serious matter”.

The Prime Minister further said “we need to take active steps to stop radicalisation of youth in our countries”, while adding “we must work together on the long-pending matter in the UN of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism”.

Speaking at the closed-door plenary session of the summit in Kazan, the Prime Minister further pressed for “time-bound reforms in global institutions such as the UN Security Council”.

In his address, Modi said: “Our meeting is taking place at a time when the world is facing several pressing challenges such as wars, economic uncertainty, climate change and terrorism. The world is talking about the North-South divide and the East-West divide. Preventing inflation, ensuring food security, energy security, health security, water security, are matters of priority for all countries in the world.”

On the cyber domain, he added: “In this era of technology, new challenges have emerged such as cyber deepfake, disinformation. At such a time, there are high expectations of Brics. I believe that as a diverse and inclusive platform, Brics can play a positive role in all areas… Our approach must be people centric. We need to work on global regulations for cyber security and for a safe and secure AI.”

Modi further said: “Brics is an organisation which is willing to evolve with time. By giving our own example to the world, we must collectively, and in a united manner, raise our voice for reforms of global institutions. We must move forward in a time-bound manner on reforms in global institutions such as the UN Security Council, multilateral development banks, and the WTO.”

Batting for the developing world, he said: “The hopes, aspirations and expectations of the countries of the Global South must also be kept in mind. During our Voice of Global South summits and the G-20 presidency, India put the voices of these countries on the global stage. I am pleased that these efforts are being strengthened under Brics as well. Last year the countries of Africa were integrated into Brics.”