SPEECHES / STATEMENTS 

PM's opening statement at the Plenary Session of the BRIC Summit

April 15, 2010, Brasilia

I wish to convey my deep gratitude to His Excellency President Lula for hosting the BRIC Summit and for the warm hospitality extended to me and my delegation.

The holding of the second stand alone BRIC Summit represents the growing multi-polarity in the world. In the short period of 10 months since our last Summit in Yekaterinburg we have made good progress. Our Foreign Ministers, Finance Ministers, Agriculture Ministers, National Security Advisers and Governors of Central Banks have met. The first BRIC Business Forum was held a few days ago, and several other side events have taken place.

We are four large countries with abundant resources, large populations and diverse societies. We together account for almost one-fifth of the world’s GDP. We aspire for rapid growth for ourselves and for an external environment that is conducive to our development goals. The people of our countries expect us to work together so as to bring the benefits of inclusive social and economic development to them. Brazil has taken impressive strides in social inclusion under President Lula’s leadership, from which we can all learn. We in India have put in place massive schemes for social intervention such as the enactment of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and the Right to Education Act. We can each benefit by sharing our experiences in the field of inclusive growth.

Energy and food security are two specific areas where we can work together. Our grouping includes two of the largest energy producers and two of the largest consumers in the world. We can cooperate in both upstream and downstream areas, and in the development of new fuels and clean energy technologies.

Similarly, BRIC countries are both large producers and consumers of agricultural products. The meeting of our Agriculture Ministers is a welcome initiative. We should consider putting in place an architecture of food security that focuses on increasing agricultural productivity, better land use, sustainable farming practices and agro-processing.

Besides this, there is vast potential for cooperation in areas such as science and technology, trade and investment, pharmaceuticals and infrastructure. Investments in human capital will create new sources of growth.

BRIC countries have an important role to play in the shaping the pace, direction and sustainability of global economic growth. I am glad to note that our Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors have been meeting regularly. At our last Summit we had decided to commission a BRIC Study on which way the world economy will move in the period ahead. India has circulated the draft terms of reference for the study and we would be happy to carry this idea forward.

While it appears that the immediate global economic and financial crisis is behind us, it is still early to say that we are on the path of long term recovery. A lot will depend on how the developed economies fare. Sustainable recovery will also depend on several factors such as enhanced investment for infrastructure development, stable capital flows to the developing markets, appropriate macroeconomic adjustments, and avoiding complacency in the area of financial sector reforms. Financial inclusion will be a major determinant of success.

We should prepare for the forthcoming G 20 Summits in Toronto and Seoul. Their outcomes need to be supportive of the post crisis-phase of the recovery process. This requires the avoidance of protectionism in all its forms, commitment to a fair and rule-based trading system, reform of international financial institutions and better regulation and supervision. Capital adequacy of international institutions should be ensured to fund development needs. Our Finance Ministers should be in regular touch with each other.

BRIC nations represent an important voice in the global climate discourse. Despite its shortcomings, the Copenhagen Conference did generate a broad understanding on several contentious issues. Our approach to the Cancun Conference should be anchored within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol and the Bali Roadmap.

Technology will be a key element in our strategy to meet the challenge of climate change. Each of us has our own strengths in climate-friendly technologies. If we pool our best scientific and technological resources, BRIC nations can set a fine example in promoting collaborative development, deployment and dissemination of clean energy and renewable technologies.

BRIC countries are uniquely placed to contribute to reforming the architecture of global governance. A genuine reform of the Security Council by expansion in its permanent membership as well as non-permanent membership and improvement in its working methods is essential to make the United Nations reflective of contemporary realities.

Terrorism poses a special challenge to our development efforts. We should unite in our efforts to combat this scourge. We should also step up our cooperation in addressing other non-traditional threats to security.

The Joint Statement we will be issuing today along with the Follow-up document BRIC contain many ideas for expanding our cooperation. I am particularly glad that the scope of our activities is expanding, with a focus on greater people-to-people contacts. We should simultaneously strive for greater convergence of views on key global challenges.

In conclusion I wish to thank President Lula for his most able guidance and leadership in making this Summit a success.