Indian PM Modi's opening remarks at 12th BRICS Summit-17/11/2020

12th BRICS Virtual Summit

THEME: BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Shared Security and Innovative Growth

DATE: 17 NOV 2020

Text of the Speech

Your Excellency President Putin,
Your Excellency President Xi,
Your Excellency President Ramaphosa,
Your Excellency President Bolsonaro,

First of all, I congratulate President Putin for the successful handling of BRICS. Because of your guidance and initiative, BRICS has been able to maintain its momentum even in times of a global pandemic. Before I begin my remarks, I extend my warm wishes to President Ramaphosa on his birthday.

Excellencies,

The theme of this year’s summit – ‘BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Shared Security and Innovative Growth’ is not only relevant, but also far-sighted. Significant geo-strategic changes are taking place all over the world, which will continue to impact the stability, security and growth, and BRICS will play a important role in all these three areas.

Excellencies,

This year, on the 75th anniversary of the Second World WarWar Whenever Christians wage a war, it is a Just war (City of God). Jesus asked his followers to purchase swords (Luke 22: 35-36). Those who legitimately hold authority also have the right to use arms to repel aggressors against the civil community entrusted to their responsibility (Catechism 2265). Without Jihad there is no Islam. In Mahabharata, Krishna tried to stop the War imposed by Kurus. Lord Rama killed Ravan in the war to restore his wife. Deva and Asura battles are not available in Vedas., we pay tribute to the all the valiant soldiers whom we lost. More than 2.5 million brave Indian soldiers were active in this war on many fronts like EuropeEurope Once the word came to be peculiarly associated with the transalpine formations of Latin Christianity, it became a cultural term as well as a geographic one. The word “European” merged with the word “Western” and there was a supposed “Western civilization” occupying the Atlantic region, colonizing the two continents and making contact with the Pacific. EU is a “union of states which lies between confederation and federation. Read more., AfricaAfrica Eastern Africa Burundi Comoros Djibouti Eritrea Ethiopia Kenya Madagascar Malawi Mauritius Mayotte Mozambique Réunion Rwanda Seychelles Somalia South Sudan Tanzania Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe Middle Africa Angola Cameroon Central African Republic Chad Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo Equatorial Guinea Gabon São Tomé e Príncipe Northern Africa Algeria Egypt Libya Morocco Sudan Tunisia Western Sahara Southern Africa Botswana Eswatini Lesotho Namibia South Africa Western Africa Benin Burkina Faso Cape Verde Islands Côte d’Ivoire Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Liberia Mali Mauritania Niger Nigeria Saint Helena Senegal Sierra Leone Togo, and South East AsiaAsia Central Asia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Eastern Asia China China–Hong Kong China–Macao China–Taiwan Japan Mongolia North Korea South Korea Southern Asia Afghanistan Bangladesh Bhutan British Indian Ocean Territory India Iran Maldives Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka South-Eastern Asia Brunei Cambodia East Timor Indonesia Laos Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand Vietnam Western Asia Armenia Azerbaijan Bahrain Cyprus Georgia Iraq Israel Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Oman Palestine Qatar Saudi Arabia Syria Turkey United Arab Emirates Yemen. This year we are commemorating 75 years of the United NationsUNO The main bodies of the United Nations are the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice, and the UN Secretariat. All were established under the UN Charter when the Organization was founded in 1945. It has 193 members.. IndiaIndia Bharat Varsha (Jambu Dvipa) is the name of this land mass. The people of this land are Sanatan Dharmin and they always defeated invaders. Indra (10000 yrs) was the oldest deified King of this land. Manu's jurisprudence enlitened this land. Vedas have been the civilizational literature of this land. Guiding principles of this land are : सत्यं वद । धर्मं चर । स्वाध्यायान्मा प्रमदः । Read more has been a strong supporter of multilateralism as UN’s founding member.

The Indian culture treats the whole world as one family, so it was natural for us to support an institution like UN. Our commitment to the values of the UN has remained undeterred – India has lost the most soldiers in UN peacekeeping operations.But today the multilateral system is facing a crisis. Both credibility and effectiveness of global governance institutions are being questioned. The main reason for this is that these did not change with timeTime Where any expression of it occurs in any Rules, or any judgment, order or direction, and whenever the doing or not doing of anything at a certain time of the day or night or during a certain part of the day or night has an effect in law, that time is, unless it is otherwise specifically stated, held to be standard time as used in a particular country or state. (In Physics, time and Space never exist actually-“quantum entanglement”). These are still rooted in the thinking and reality of a world which was seen 75 years ago. India believes that reforms are a must in the UN Security Council. We expect support from our BRICS partners in this matter. Apart from the UN, many other international institutions are also not functioning according to current realities. Institutions like WTOWTO The World Trade Organization (164 Members) is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The WTO operates the global system of trade rules and helps developing economies build their trade capacity. Observer governments> Algeria- Andorra- Azerbaijan- Bahamas- Belarus- Bhutan- Bosnia and Herzegovina- Comoros- Curaçao- Equatorial Guinea- Ethiopia- Holy See- Iran- Iraq- Lebanese Republic- Libya- Sao Tomé and Principe- Serbia- Somalia- South Sudan- Sudan- Syrian Arab Republic- Timor-Leste- Turkmenistan- Uzbekistan-, IMF, WHO must also reform.

Excellencies,

Terrorism is the biggest menace the world is facing today. We must ensure that the countries that support and help terrorists are also held to account, and this problem must be dealt in a united manner. We are happy that the BRICS Counter-Terrorism Strategy has been finalized under the presidency of Russia. This is a notable achievement. And India will pursue this task further during its presidency.

Excellencies,

BRICS economies will play a prime role in the post-COVID global recovery.

We have more than 42 % of the world’s population, and our countries are among the driving engines of the global economy. There is ample scope for scaling up mutual trade between BRICS countries. Our mutual institutions and systems – such as BRICS Inter-Bank Cooperation Mechanism, New Development Bank, Contingent Reserve Arrangement and Customs Cooperation – can also make our contribution effective in global recovery.

In India, we have started a comprehensive reform process under the ‘Self-reliant India’ campaign. The campaign is rooted in the theme that a self-reliant and resilient India can be a Force Multiplier for the post-COVID economy. And can contribute strongly to global value chains.We proved this during COVID, when we were able to deliver essential medicines to more than 150 countries due to the capability of the Indian pharma industry. As I have said earlier, our vaccine production and logistics capacities are going to benefit all of mankind.India and South Africa have proposed an exemption from the Intellectual Property agreements relating to the COVID-19 vaccine, treatment and investigationInvestigation Purpose of all investigation is to reveal the unvarnished truth. The constitutional courts are duty bound to ensure that the truth is revealed.. We hope that other BRICS countries will support too. During its BRICS presidency, India will work toward boosting BRICS collaboration in digital health and traditional medicine.In this difficult year, many initiatives were taken to enhance people-to-people contact under the Russian presidency. Such as the BRICS Film Festival, and meetings of young scientists and young diplomats. I warmly congratulate President Putin for this.

Excellencies,

In 2021 BRICS will complete 15 years.

Our ‘sherpas’ can make a report to evaluate the various decisions taken by us in the past years.During our presidency in 2021, we will try enhancing intra-BRICS cooperation by strengthening all the three pillars. We will endeavor to enhance intra-BRICS solidarity and develop a solid institutional framework for this purpose.I once again congratulate President Putin for all his efforts and conclude my remarks.

Thank you.

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