Johannesburg: Reform of institutions of global governance, in particular the UN Security Council, is now not an option, but an imperative, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his address at the IBSA Leaders’ Meeting at Johannesburg, South Africa, on Sunday.
IBSA is a dialogue forum of India, Brazil and South Africa. The meeting was hosted by Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of South Africa. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, president of Brazil was present.
Noting that the meeting coincided with the first G20 Summit on African soil, Prime Minister Modi described the meeting as timely. He said that the summit marked the culmination of four consecutive G20 presidencies by Global South countries, out of which the last three were by members of the IBSA.
This, the Prime Minister noted, has resulted in several important initiatives focussed on human-centric development, multilateral reform and sustainable growth.
“IBSA is not just a group of three countries but an important platform connecting three continents, three major democratic nations, and three major economies,” PM Modi said.
Highlighting the fact
that global governance institutions are far removed from 21st century realities, he called on IBSA to send a strong message that reform of institutions of global governance, in particular the UN Security Council, is now not an option, but an imperative.
Technology plays a crucial role in ensuring human-centric development, PM Modi noted and proposed the establishment of an ‘IBSA Digital Innovation Alliance’ to facilitate sharing of Digital Public Infrastructure like UPI, health platforms like CoWIN, cybersecurity frameworks and women-led tech initiatives among the three countries.
He emphasized the need for close coordination in the fight against terrorism, while saying that there should be no room for double standards while combating this menace.
The Indian Prime Minister also emphasized IBSA’s potential to contribute to the development of safe, trustworthy and human-centric Artificial Intelligence (AI) norms and invited IBSA leaders to the AI Impact Summit to be held in India next year.
“IBSA can complement each other’s development and become an example for sustainable growth. There is scope for cooperation in areas such as millets, natural farming, disaster resilience, green energy, traditional medicines and health security,” he said.
PM Modi appreciated the IBSA Fund’s work in supporting projects across forty countries in sectors like education, health, women empowerment and solar energy, and proposed IBSA Fund for climate resilient agriculture to further advance South-South cooperation.