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Opening Statement by the Prime
Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh at the Plenary Session of the
BRIC Summit
15/04/2010
Your Excellency President Lula da Silva,
Your Excellency President Dmitry Medvedev,
Your Excellency President Hu Jintao,
Distinguished delegates,
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.
Thank you.
Brasilia
April 15, 2010 |
