Modi Tables Five-Point Proposal at BRICS Summit
During the BRICS Summit 2023 (#BRICS2023) in South Africa on 23 August 2023, Indian PM Narendra Modi put forward a five-point proposal during his keynote address. He suggested the reinforcement of cooperation among #BRICS in the following five areas:
- Set up BRICS Space Group
- Fully Apply #EdTech and #AI for Education and Skills Development
- Perform Skills Mapping Exercise to Identify Strengths and Cooperation Areas
- Create Big Cat Alliance as part of #Biodiversity Drive
- Build up Shared Repository of Traditional Medicine
The proposal for Space Cooperation coincided with the successful landing of the Indian Moon Rover Chandrayaan-3 at the South Pole of the Moon. The successful moon landing puts India in the exclusive club of a handful countries which have realized such a feat.
India also has a strong brand name when it comes to Information Technology (IT). Thus, it has developed several applications such as DIKSHA which stands for Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing. Modi went on to highlight India’s efforts to leverage AI in innovation labs in schools and pointed out to Bhashini which is an AI tool to overcome language barriers. India is thus willing to share its know-how in IT with other BRICS member states.
PM Modi also stated that India supports the expansion of the #BRICS and envisions the group to carry the voice of the #GlobalSouth. In particular, India expects the BRICS New Development Bank to fully support the economic development of the #GlobalSouth.
In line with the theme of the Summit — ‘BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism” — PM Modi reiterated India‘s commitment to get the #AU on board the #G20, which India is currently chairing.