Grouping must convert twenty years of consensus into concrete outcomes, Prime Minister tells 18th Summit; proposes troika-based coordination body and secure digital repository to track decisions and fix accountability

New Delhi, Sep 12 (BuzzBytes): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday formally inaugurated the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi and called for transforming the grouping’s unity and consensus into concrete outcomes at the global level, asserting that India is not against anyone but stands with everyone.

Addressing the summit held under India’s chairship, Modi said BRICS has completed 20 years of its existence and is entering a new phase that demands greater maturity, responsibility and a stronger global role. “India is not against anyone, but with everyone. Ordinary people and humanity are our priority,” he said, adding that more than 350 meetings were organised during India’s chairship, with delegations hosted in around 30 cities. “Now the time has come to convert the unity and consensus within BRICS into concrete results at the global level,” he said.

To make the grouping’s internal functioning more effective, Modi proposed the establishment of a BRICS Continuity and Implementation Mechanism, using a troika system to improve coordination between the previous, current and incoming presidencies and to monitor implementation of initiatives taken up by the bloc. He also proposed a secure digital repository to maintain records of BRICS decisions, including the nodal officer concerned, timelines and the current status of each decision.

Calling for reforms in the global governance system, Modi said the Global South is at the forefront of global crises but is kept at the back in global decision-making, and stressed that any reform must give special attention to representation, accountability, timely response and rule-making. He said the BRICS platform should be transformed from a “pyramid of privileges” into a “platform of partnerships,” with ordinary people and humanity at the centre of its efforts—(BuzzBytes)