The world’s largest emerging markets must double trade between their countries in the next four years and unite to fight terrorist threats that hurt economic prosperity, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
Trade between Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) was US$250 billion, Modi said, adding: “We should set ourselves a target to double this number to US$500 billion by 2020.”
The eighth annual summit, for which BRICS leaders traveled to the tropical Indian state of Goa, took place amid heightened tensions between India and nuclear-armed neighbor Pakistan.
Terrorism, security issues and defense ties — particularly between India and Russia — dominated the weekend’s discussions.
Modi said the group must take a common approach toward tackling terrorism and terrorist organizations and urged member nations to deepen cooperation among their national security advisers.
“Terrorism casts a long shadow on our development and economic prosperity,” Modi told BRICS leaders. “Its reach is now global. It has grown more lethal and adept at the use of technology. Our response to terrorism must, therefore, be nothing less than comprehensive.”
However, tensions between the diverse BRICS member states were at times obvious. In a reference to China blocking India’s bid at the UN to ban Maulana Masood Azhar, leader of Pakistan-based extremist group Jaish-e-Mohammed, Modi said individual approaches would be futile and counterproductive.
“There must be no distinction based on artificial and self-serving grounds,” Modi said. “Criminality should be the only basis for punitive action against the individuals and organizations responsible for carrying out terrorist acts.”
The BRICS grouping, which originally aimed to reshape global governance by giving an international voice to countries excluded from established multilateral organizations, has set up a new development bank and tried to take unified stances on global issues.
However, the grouping has long suffered from a lack of cohesion and unity among its members. Apart from having large populations and emerging market status, BRICS members have little in common.
Tensions between the West and Russia are running high over the conflict in Syria, even as India — a long-time ally of Russia — is attempting to warm up to the US.
China and India, despite a trading relationship worth US$74.9 billion, are also geopolitical rivals. Beijing has blocked India’s attempt to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group, sought closer ties with Pakistan and has concerned New Delhi with investments in neighboring South Asian countries.
Meanwhile, resource-rich South Africa and Brazil are geographically distant from each other and the other BRICS nations, and have both also faced political turmoil at home.
Modi said BRICS leaders should continue to push for changing governance architectures in line with the economic heft of the emerging economies.
The bloc has been at the forefront of voicing the lack of say in running global institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF.
BRICS nations have agreed to hasten the creation of a new ratings agency, Modi said, which had been floated as a way to liberate the relatively volatile emerging markets from the requirements of established Western ratings companies.
On Saturday, Modi pledged to deepen valuable defense ties with Russia at a bilateral meeting ahead of the BRICS summit, as India continues to purchase advanced weaponry to modernize its military as tensions rise in South Asia.
In Modi’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, both leaders decided to accelerate the process to draw up a free-trade agreement between India and the Eurasian region.
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