Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, during his address at the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) virtual summit on Tuesday, said, “Terrorism is the biggest problem in the world today. We have to ensure that the countries that support the terrorists are held accountable and this problem is tackled in an organised manner.”
The summit is taking place at a time two of the bloc’s members, India and China, are locked in a border standoff in eastern Ladakh for over six months.
PM Modi also said that reforms are necessary in several international organisations, including World Trade Organisation (WTO), World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
“We expect support from our partners on this issue. Several… international organisations aren’t functioning according to the contemporary realities,” said PM Modi.
Laying down India’s contribution to the international community during the Covid-19 pandemic, the PM said that due to the strength of India’s pharma sector, we were able to provide medicines to over 150 countries during lockdown era. He assured the member nations that India’s coronavirus vaccine production and delivery ability will help mankind in the same way.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Russian President Vladimir Putin also attended the summit.
BRICS is an influential bloc in global geopolitics, representing half the world’s population. With 3.6 billion residents, the BRICS countries have a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of $16.6 trillion. Notably, India will be taking over the chairmanship of the BRICS, which would be the third BRICS Presidency for India since its inception (after 2012 and 2016) and will host the 13th BRICS Summit in 2021.
