Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today participated in the IBSA Leaders’ Meeting held in Johannesburg, South Africa. The meeting was hosted by the President of South Africa, H.E. Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa and attended by the President of Brazil, H.E. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Describing the meeting as timely, Prime Minister noted that it coincided with the first G20 Summit on African soil and marked the culmination of four consecutive G20 presidencies by Global South countries, out of which the last three were by the IBSA members. This, he noted, has resulted in several important initiatives focussed on human-centric development, multilateral reform and sustainable growth.
Prime Minister emphasized that IBSA is not just a group of three countries but an important platform connecting three continents, three major democratic nations, and three major economies.
Prime Minister stressed 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.
On counter-terrorism, Prime Minister emphasized the need for close coordination and that there should be no room for double standards while fighting terrorism. Highlighting technology’s crucial role in ensuring human-centric development, Prime Minister proposed establishing 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.
Prime Minister also emphasized IBSA’s potential to contribute to the development of safe, trustworthy and human-centric AI norms. He invited IBSA leaders to the AI Impact Summit to be held in India next year.
Prime Minister stated that IBSA can complement each other’s development and become an example for sustainable growth. He highlighted cooperation opportunities in areas such as millets, natural farming, disaster resilience, green energy, traditional medicines and health security.
Appreciating the IBSA Fund’s work in supporting projects across forty countries in sectors like education, health, women empowerment and solar energy, Prime Minister proposed IBSA Fund for Climate Resilient Agriculture to further advance South-South cooperation. Prime Minister’s full speech can be found [here].
Africa Fact: In central Nigeria, West Africa’s oldest civilisation flourished between 1000 BC and 300 BC. Discovered in 1928, the ancient culture was called the Nok Civilisation, named after the village in which the early artefacts were discovered. Two modern scholars, declare that “[a]fter calibration, the period of Nok art spans from 1000 BC until 300 BC”. The site itself is much older going back as early as 4580 or 4290 BC.
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