NEW DELHI, Nov 17 - Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday while stressing that terrorism is the biggest problem in the world today, advocated that countries that give protection and support to terrorists must be held accountable. The Prime Minister, who was addressing the 12th BRICS Summit via video conference today, expressed happiness that under Russia�s leadership, BRICS� counter-terrorism strategy has been given the final touch.
�Terrorism is the biggest problem the world is facing. We have to ensure that the countries that support and assist the terrorists are also held guilty,� Modi said, without taking name of any country. BRICS is an influential bloc that represents over 3.6 billion people, or half of the world�s population. The BRICS countries have a combined GDP of USD16.6 trillion. The Prime Minister emphasized that reforms in the UN Security Council are very important. He said India expects support from BRICS partners on this issue. He pointed out that several other international organizations are not functioning according to the contemporary realities and institutions such as WTO, IMF, and WHO need improvement.
In his address, Modi pointed out that India was able to provide medicines to over 150 countries during COVID-lockdown period.
Talking about the COVID-19 crisis, Modi said India�s vaccine production and delivery capabilities will work in the interest of humanity. The Prime Minister also highlighted reform initiatives undertaken by his government under the �Self-reliant India� campaign.
�We have started a comprehensive reform process under the �Self-reliant India� campaign. The campaign is based on the belief that a self-reliant and resilient India post-COVID can be a force multiplier for the global economy and make a strong contribution to the global value chains,� he said.
Prime Minister Modi also paid tributes to the soldiers who were killed in the Second World War. He added that more than 2.5 million soldiers from India were active in this war on many fronts like Europe, Africa, and South East Asia.
The leaders of the five-nation grouping-Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa discussed intra-BRICS cooperation and key issues in the global context, including the reform of the multilateral system, measures to mitigate the impact of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, cooperation in Counter Terrorism, trade, health, energy and people to people exchanges.
