MOSCOW: Prime Minister chairs 13th BRICS Summit

MOSCOW: Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi chaired the
13th BRICS Summit virtually.

The theme of the Summit, chosen by India, was, BRICS@15: Intra-BRICS
Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation and Consensus.

The Summit saw the participation of all other BRICS Leaders – President Jair
Bolsonaro of Brazil, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, President Xi Jinping
of China, and President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa.

Prime Minister expressed his appreciation for the cooperation received from
BRICS partners during India’s Chairship this year, which allowed the
achievement of several new initiatives. These included the first BRICS Digital
Health Summit; the first BRICS Ministerial Joint Statement on multilateral
reforms; a BRICS Counter-Terrorism Action Plan; an Agreement on cooperation in
field of remote-sensing satellites; a virtual BRICS vaccine Research &
Development Centre; BRICS Alliance on Green Tourism, etc.

Highlighting the leading role that BRICS countries can play in the post-COVID
global recovery, Prime Minister called for enhanced BRICS cooperation under the
motto of ‘Build-back Resiliently, Innovatively, Credibly and Sustainably’.

Elaborating on these themes, Prime Minister stressed the need for accelerating
‘build-back’ by enhancing speed and accessibility of vaccination, creating
‘resilience’ by diversifying pharma and vaccine production capacities beyond
the developed world, fostering ‘innovation’ by creatively using digital tools
for public good, ensuring reform of multilateral institutions to enhance their
‘credibility’, and promoting ‘sustainable’ development by articulating a common
BRICS voice on environmental and climate issues.

The leaders also discussed important regional and global issues, including
recent developments in Afghanistan. There was convergence of views on the
threat posed by growth of terrorism and extremism, and all BRICS partners
agreed to accelerate implementation of the BRICS Action Plan on
Counter-Terrorism.

At the conclusion of the Summit, the leaders adopted the ‘New Delhi
Declaration’.