Prime Minister addressed the inaugural session on “Reform of Global Governance and Peace and Security”. Later in the day, Prime Minister also addressed a session on “Strengthening Multilateral, Economic-Financial Affairs and Artificial Intelligence. This session included participation by BRICS Partner and invited countries.
Addressing the session on Global Governance and Peace and Security, Prime Minister reaffirmed India’s commitment to enhancing the voice of the Global South. He noted that developing countries required greater support for sustainable development, in terms of access to climate finance and technology. Highlighting that the global organizations of the 20th century lacked the capacity to deal with the challenges of the 21st century, he underscored the need for reforming them. Calling for a multipolar and inclusive world order, Prime Minister stated that global governance institutions such as the UN Security Council, IMF, World Bank, and WTO must undergo urgent reform to reflect contemporary realities. He thanked the leaders for highlighting the urgency of UN Security Council reform and adopting a strong language on the issue in the Summit Declaration.
On Peace and Security, Prime Minister underlined that terrorism was a grave threat facing humanity. In this context, he noted that the Pahalgam terror attack in April 2025 was not just an attack on India, but an onslaught on the entire humanity. Calling for strong global action against terrorism, Prime Minister noted that those funding, promoting or providing safe havens to terrorists must be dealt with in the harshest terms. He emphasized that there should be no double standards in dealing with terrorism. He thanked the BRICS leaders for condemning the Pahalgam terror attack in the strongest terms. Calling upon the BRICS countries to strengthen global fight against terrorism, he emphasized that there should be zero tolerance in dealing with the menace.
Further elaborating on the subject, Prime Minister noted that conflicts, from West Asia to Europe, were a matter of deep concern. He further added that India has always called for dialogue and diplomacy to resolve such conflicts and was ready to contribute towards such efforts.
Addressing the session on “Strengthening Multilateralism, Economic-Financial Affairs and Artificial Intelligence”, Prime Minister expressed that diversity and multipolarity were valued strengths of the BRICS. He stated that at a time when the world order was under pressure and the global community facing uncertainty and challenges, the relevance of BRICS was evident. He further added that BRICS could play an important role in shaping a multipolar world. In this regard, he offered four suggestions: one, the BRICS New Development Bank must follow demand driven principle and long-term sustainability for granting projects; two, the group consider setting up a Science and Research repository which could benefit the global south countries; three, focus must be given to make the supply chain of critical minerals secured and resilient; and, four, the group should work for responsible AI – while looking into the concerns of AI governance, it should also give equal importance to promoting innovation in the field.
At the conclusion of the Leaders’ Session, the member countries adopted the ‘Rio de Janeiro Declaration’.
