China has silently stretched over the last decade a String of Pearls, a network of military and commercial facilities developed by them in countries falling on the Indian Ocean between the Chinese mainland and Port Sudan.It is a strategic encirclement of India, a carefully crafted designing that has been going on for the past several years.
Xi Jinping has vowed to make China great again. The historical Opium Wars had delivered a critical blow to the Chinese psyche, and, since then, reviving the ancient glory of China has been a secret ambition of all Chinese leaders. Military modernization and building “world class forces” is an integral component in the strategy to make China great again. Land borders and coastlines are being redrawn aggressively to boost the geostrategic status. The Indo-Tibetan border (China occupied Tibet – COT) has been activated to trigger significant tensions. Xi Jinping is opiated with delusions of a grand ‘China Dream’, and redrawing the Indo-Tibetan border is a priority ambition.
The hectic military preparations never anticipated the ‘Modi Storm’ at the other end, that threatens to convert the ‘China Dream’ into a ‘China Nightmare’. This will doubtless be a challenging time, Xi’s greedy vision encountering Modi’s resolute defiance.
Ever since the Chinese forcibly occupied Tibet in 1950 and enslaved the Tibetans, they have aggressively pursued a policy of claiming large chunks of Indian territory under the garb that it is disputed.
After the occupation of Tibet, wars erupted between India and China in 1962, conflict in NathuLa the Tulung La ambush in 1967, 2017 Doklam Plateau standoff, and the latest 2020 Ladakh confrontation.
There is an air of trepidation around the world, two nuclear forces in confrontation mode, a belligerent China intimidating a resurgent India under the dynamic tutelage of Shri. Narendra Modi. The pusillanimity of the Nehruvian era stands replaced by a dynamic urge to repulse, to compel cooperation and readiness to match Chinese bellicosity.
Tibet is an ancient nation with a recorded history dating back to 127 B.C.E. The Tibetan Empire reached its peak during the 7th and 8th centuries, conquering parts of Nepal and India, the Silk Route states, and briefly even T’ang China. The Tibetan kings imported Buddhism from India from the 6th to the 9th century, and became so devoted to its teachings of nonviolence and enlightenment that they neglected their empire.
In 1949 and 1950, the People’s Liberation Army of the People’s Republic of China invaded the eastern provinces of Amdo and Kham. In 1951, over forty thousand battle hardened Chinese soldiers marched unopposed into the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. It took the People’s Liberation Army only two weeks to surround and capture Tibet’s army, including the country’s governor-general and his staff. With the army destroyed and no response to Tibet’s appeals to the United States, India and Britain for aid, the newly enthroned fifteen-year-old Dalai Lama sent a delegation to Beijing to negotiate. On May 23, 1951, the delegation had no other option but to sign the Seventeen-Point Agreement which accepted Chinese control over Tibet in exchange for promises to leave the Dalai Lama in control of the country’s internal affairs and Tibet’s religion and culture untouched—promises the Chinese broke almost immediately. Since the invasion, an estimated 1.2 million Tibetans have been killed as a result of the Chinese occupation. By 1969, approximately 6,250 monasteries, the cultural centres of Tibetan life, had been destroyed. Prisons and labour camps are among the most common methods of persecution. Numerous Tibetans have perished from starvation and hard labour while in captivity. The most serious threat facing Tibetans is the systematic transfer of Chinese people into Tibet. More than 8 million Chinese have now settled in Tibet, a population transfer that threatens to overwhelm the remaining 6 million Tibetans and their distinct ancient Buddhist culture. Most of Tibet’s monasteries were destroyed in the 1960s and 1970s during China’s Cultural Revolution. Thousands of Tibetans are believed to have been killed during periods of repression and martial law. The Dalai Lama says 1.2 million people were killed under Chinese rule.
In March 1959, spiritual leader Dalai Lama escaped from his homeland in Tibet amid a Chinese crackdown and was granted refuge in India. India granted the Tibet leader asylum on April 3, 1959 and permission to establish a government-in-exile in the northern hill station of Dharamsala, already a sanctuary for thousands of Tibetan exiles fleeing Chinese repression.
Not satisfied with gobbling up Tibet, the Chinese want to roll down the Himalayas into India. If India is not alert it will face a similar situation as Tibet. Vast chunks of Indian land are being claimed by the Chinese from time to time to suit their expansionist designs. Buddhist pacifism and Hindu tolerance cannot subdue Chinese bellicosity. The time has come to resurrect Warrior-Monks or Dom Doms of Tibet.
The Indo-Tibetan border is now claimed to be the Indo-Chinese border, new border disputes are being raked up and China now occupies 38,000 sq km of Indian territory in Aksai Chin. Fresh claims have been made on Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh. These led to the recent clashes between the PLA and the Indian Army in Galwan area on 15 June 2020.
Dr. G. Shreekumar Menon, IRS, (Rtd) PhD (Narcotics), is former Director General, NationalAcademy of Customs Indirect Taxes and Narcotics, & Multi-Disciplinary School OfEconomic Intelligence India, Fellow, James Martin Center For Non Proliferation Studies,USA. Fellow, Centre for International Trade & Security, University of Georgia, USA , Public Administration, Maxwell School of Public Administration, Syracuse University, U.S.A.,AOTS Scholar, Japan
Prime Minister Narandra Modi met Xi Jinping President of China on the sidelines of SCO Summit 2019 in Bishkek on 13 June 2019
Transcript of Media Briefing by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, on the bilateral meeting between India and China on the sidelines of SCO Summit 2019 in Bishkek on June 13, 2019
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first engagement after he arrived in Bishkek earlier on Thursday 13 June 2019, was a bilateral meeting with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China.
The meeting was originally scheduled for 20 minutes but went for a longer period and both the leaders had a very warm and a very cordial discussion on a range of subjects. President Xi Jinping congratulated the Prime Minister for his victory in the general election and he said that this was reflective of the aspirations and the trust that the people of India had placed on the Prime Minister.
Both leaders then did a review of the bilateral relationship and they agreed that there is a new momentum in this bilateral relationship since the Wuhan Summit in April last year.
The Prime Minister specifically noted that what had improved between both the sides is strategic communication at all levels and in that context some of the issues that we had been able to resolve through that strategic communication included long pending issues like the opening of the Bank of China branch in India as well as the resolution of the issue relating to the listing of Masood Azhar in the 1267 Sanctions Committee.
The two leaders agreed that while the outcome of Wuhan was a very positive one it was necessary now to move the relationship forward into new areas and therefore the Prime Minister specifically conveyed to President Xi and he agreed that both sides need to raise our expectations from the relationship and in that context the Prime Minister welcomed President Xi Jinping to India for the next informal summit, the second informal summit after Wuhan. He said that both sides must prepare very thoroughly for this summit that the outcome of the summit must meet the expectations of both sides and President Xi Jinping very warmly confirmed his readiness to visit India this year. He said he looked forward to discussing all issues from a strategic and long term perspective and that both sides should now begin intensive preparations for the visit.
There were some discussions between the leaders on the issue of trade. As you know since Wuhan, the Prime Minister has reiterated that it is important for us to tackle the trade deficit with China and in a number of areas that we had mutually identified there was progress in terms of the regulatory procedures that have been simplified by the Chinese side. The Prime Minister took note of this, he expressed his appreciation for the simplification of the regulatory processes that included non-Basmati Rice, sugar, certain agricultural products, pharmaceuticals and he therefore hope that now that these regulatory issues are out of the way there would be a significant uptick in our exports of these products to China or imports by China of these products.
President Xi Jinping took note of this, he said initial steps have been to redress some of these issues. He said that China will be taking further steps and both sides agreed that in some manner, we have to, in the next few months, see how we can achieve a significant breakthrough in this regard through discussions between the two sides.
Both sides agreed that next year is a critical year in our bilateral relationship, it would be the 70th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations. In this regard the Prime Minister proposed that we need to mark this occasion in befitting manner, in a manner that reflects this new relationship and he therefore proposed that to mark the 70th anniversary India and China should hold 70 important events, 35 each in India and China and the two leaders have tasked their respective External Affairs Ministers to discuss this matter at the second meeting of the High Level Mechanism which will take place as you know the first meeting of this mechanism took place in December last year and it is a mechanism explicitly established to enhance people to people relations and people to people contacts.
There was also a brief discussion on the boundary issue. The two leaders have asked the Special Representatives to meet and carry forward the discussion and have instructed them to expedite discussions in this regard for achieving a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question. The two leaders have said that the approach should be constructive and it must be driven by the larger context in which we see India-China relations, in which the two leaders see India-China relations in the coming years in the new century of course but also in the coming years.
Both the Special Representatives, on the Indian side the National Security Advisor, on the Chinese side the Foreign Minister and the State Counselor Mr. Wang Yi were present in the room when the leader’s met.
Overall this was a relatively brief meeting because it is a meeting on the sidelines of the SCO Summit but it was very substantive in content. The atmosphere was very positive, the Wuhan Spirit was very much in evidence and this is the beginning of what will be a series of other interactions the two leaders will have. They are expecting to meet and greet each other at G20 Summit two weeks down the road, in Osaka. They will of course be meeting at BRICS this year, at the East Asia Summit this year and then there will be the bilateral informal summit. So we see this as the beginning of a process after the formation of government in India, to now deal with India-China relations from both sides in a larger context of the 21st century and of our role in the Asia Pacific region in this regard.
There was a very brief discussion on Pakistan. Obviously time was a constraint but Prime Minister in fact said that we have a consistent position with respect to Pakistan, we discuss all issues through bilateral mechanism and we look for peaceful settlement through negotiations. We are committed to this process, the prime minister recalled that he has made efforts in this regard and these efforts have been derailed.
The Prime Minister did inform President Xi Jinping that Pakistan needs to create an atmosphere free of terrorism and that at this stage we did not see this happening as yet. And that therefore we expect Pakistan to take concrete action on the issues that India has proposed in the areas of concerns that we have flagged to Pakistan, that Pakistan should take concrete action in this regard.
There was a general discussion on the global situation and obviously in that context the China-US relationship came up as an issue but there was no time for a very detailed discussion in these matters. The focus of this bilateral meeting has been to reaffirm that in the five year term of this government which coincidently also closely matches the term of President Xi Jinping in his second term as president. The two countries have a historic opportunity to move forward on a number of issues, to address a number of problems and to take India-China relations to a new level. No detailed discussion took place, a general direction was given.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President of Russia Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of SCO Summit 2019 in Bishkek on 13 June 2019
Transcript of Media Briefing by Foreign Secretary on the bilateral meeting between India and Russia on the sidelines of SCO Summit 2019 in Bishkek on June 13, 2019
The warmth and the personal friendship were evident throughout the meeting between the Prime Minister and the President of the Russian Federation, President Putin and in fact the entire meeting was suffused with this relationship that they enjoy as colleagues and that they have enjoyed over the past few years.
President Putin specifically recognized Prime Minister’s personal contribution in strengthening this relationship. He mentioned this on more than one occasion, he also specifically said that Russia had conferred its highest award, the Order of Saint Andrew The Apostle on our Prime Minister in recognition of this effort and this initiative that Prime Minister has taken to develop the relationship with Russia.
Both leaders recognized the special significance of the partnership as an important pillar for stability in the world of the future and there was an understanding that this partnership, this relationship is an old relationship, it is a relationship based on trust between the leadership and between the people and that this relationship needs to be sustained, it needs to be developed, it needs to be given further encouragement.
President Putin has invited the Prime Minister formally to be the main guest for the Eastern Economic Forum at the Vladivostok in early September and Prime Minister has warmly accepted this invitation. This will be a bilateral visit which the Prime Minister will make to Vladivostok in early September as the Chief Guest for the Eastern Economic Forum and thereafter for the India-Russia Annual Bilateral Summit.
The Prime Minister felt that this is a new area of cooperation, something that must be explored actively by both sides and therefore the Prime Minister informed President Putin that we will do serious preparations on our side to ensure that its participation at the Eastern Economic Forum is meaningful and the Prime Minister has therefore conveyed that business delegations as well as representatives of key Indian states will visit Vladivostok and the Russian far east prior to Prime Minister’s own visit in early September to identify and to scope out and to work on potential areas of business collaboration in this new region.
The Russian Far East is extremely resource rich, besides oil & gas it has a number of other minerals, it has timber and this is an area in which we would like to work with Russia because Russia is also an important country in the Pacific region and this is part of our Act East Policy. So this is something that India is going to lay special emphasis on.
The two leaders reviewed trade & investment relations, they noted that we are on an upward trajectory, that in fact the targets that we have set for trade & investment have been exceeded, that our energy cooperation is going well. President Putin mentioned about the discussions going on between the Russian companies and the Indian consortium for the Vankor cluster which is supposed to be one of the biggest deposit of oil & gas which Russia has.
A new area of focus that was identified by both leaders is Arctic region oil & gas. This is an area where we feel we should look and engage further and we have already began that engagement. A delegation from Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas has already has already had discussion with the Russian side last month and this is something that the leaders felt we should take forward.
Both leaders also looked at the Russian Far East offers is another important area and that is using skilled Indian manpower to develop this region. This region is vast but is, underpopulated i.e. a very small population. So this too will be explored in the near future and all the areas will be discussed both at the Strategic Economic Dialogue which from the Indian side is headed by the Vice Chairman of the NITI Aayog. That meeting will take place in July.
Prior to that the Deputy Prime Minister and the Special Representative of President Putin for the Arctic region in the Far East, Deputy Prime Minister Trutnev will visit India in June and we are also planning for the possibility of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Consultation, which is headed by the External Affairs Minister on Indian side to also be held, before September before the annual summit. So these areas – energy, manpower, trade & investment and the Russian Far East will be looked at in all these institutional mechanisms.
One of the areas President Putin particularly mentioned was the modernization of the Indian Railways. In this regard they are doing a study for the upgrading of the Nagpur-Secunderabad line and this was an area in which Russia is interested in. Naturally discussions did take place on defence related issues and Prime Minister thanked President Putin for the rapidity with which the Russia had responded to the Indian request for Make in India to manufacture the AK203 Kalashnikov rifles in Amethi. This is a project which was set up in record time and President Putin in fact confirmed that the first batch of orders was already underway. Both leaders were very pleased with this.
In a sense this marks the beginning of a process where India move away from a buyer seller relationship to one where there is technology transfer and Make in India and job creation and content creation in India. So therefore India will be discussing other inter-governmental agreements and there will be more such occasions where Russian technology and Russian manufacturing will be moved to India.
In overall terms it was a brief meeting but a very-very rich meeting in terms of content and in terms of outlining where India and Russia will go with the next Bilateral Summit which will be held two or three months from now. And of course they concluded the meeting by saying they look forward to meeting each other at Osaka at the G20 Summit. There also will be Russia-India-China trilateral meeting in the margins of the G20.
The meeting ended with the assurance that both leaders will again meet in the very near future and in the meantime both sides will be working on certain agreements to prepare well for the Annual Summit in September.
There was no specific discussion on any particular defence equipment except the Prime Minister thanking the President of Russia for the AK203 Kalashnikov factory in Amethi.
What was discussed was how we are going to take forward this Make in India and some of the other specific areas where we would like to have cooperation were touched upon but given the brief time available no detailed discussion took place. Nor was any discussion on any regional or international issues because the focus was entirely on how to make the Prime Minister’s visit for the next Annual Summit successful
Note: There was no discussion during the meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Putin on issues like terrorism, Pakistan or the S400, for which US has been pressurizing India and has gone to the extent of offering the alternative to it ?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping at Hubei Provincial Museum, in Wuhan, China on April 27, 2018
The Chinese Government’s decision not to further oppose the addition of Masood Azhar to the United Nations blacklist, and the fact that consent was given before “Modi could claim victory in the general election” has been described by an official Chinese mouthpiece as China’s endorsement of the handling of the China policy by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first term in office.
The Chinese endorsement of Modi’s China Policy has been underscored in an editorial titled “Continuity, not change, expected from Modi 2.0” published by Global Times on 29 May 2019.
The editorial goes on to observe that the first thing expected to happen in Modi 2.0 is the second informal summit between President Xi Jinping and Modi. The momentum created by the Wuhan informal summit could not be sustained on account of the Indian general elections . Now matters such as border issues, bilateral economic ties, and coordinating moves against US trade restrictions that are being described as acts by a bully, would be taken up in a more mature manner, China hopes.
The pragmatic realism, in terms of India-China relations, will continue in Modi 2.0, the edit says pointing out that both countries have decided to reaffirm history of cooperation in many multilateral settings. In this context, attention has been drawn to “the fact is that their engagement in multilateral frameworks was not sidelined by their differences, even during the Doklam standoff”.
Noting “India has acceded to the expanded Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and is a top borrower in the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank” and without directly mentioning the US but referring to the “resurgent waves of unilateralism” and pointing out that multilateralism is now under stress, the edit goes on to point out that India and China’s interactions hold particular implications for the trend of major power relations.
It also says that “instead of indulging in competition for status, India and China are actually trying to view each other in terms of opportunity and trust, and this became clearer after 2018.
Furthermore, there has been more room for both sides to test constructive interactions in other multilateral frameworks such as BIMSTEC, SAARC and the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. As a sign of positive interaction, China offered to cooperate with India to help a third country improve its infrastructure, which India accepted. The Indian minister of external affairs made clear that it could work with China on infrastructure projects in Afghanistan and that such cooperation would not be affected by Pakistani factors”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi departs from Hangzhou on conclusion of his visit to China
Hangzhou: Prime Minister had three very important interactions today. The first one was his meeting with President Xi Jinping of China.
Significantly, the first leader President Xi met today was the Indian Prime Minister. After that the Prime Minister chaired a meeting of the BRICS leaders. India is the current chair of the BRICS and will be hosting the next BRICS Summit in Goa, hence from that point of view, it was important for Prime Minister to have informal discussions with the other BRICS leaders on what are their priorities, how they see the evolution of BRICS and what they can bring to the table when India conducts the BRICS Summit in Goa.
Prime Minister also had a very useful and productive meeting with Malcolm Turnbull, the Prime Minister of Australia.
During his meeting with Prime Minister Modi, Chinese President Xi remarked, this was his eighth meeting with Prime Minister Modi, who began by condemning the terrorist attack on the Chinese Embassy in Bishkek. He said that it was yet another proof of the continuing scourge of terrorism. He reiterated that our response to terrorism must not be motivated by political considerations.
The Prime Minister complimented President Xi for the excellent arrangements made for the G20 Summit and expressed the confidence that it will be very successful.
Turning to bilateral relations, Modi said that he has always maintained that in order to make the Asian Century a reality, the countries of Asia would have to take responsibility.
In the context of India and China, the Prime Minister said that our people also have the expectation that we make every possible effort to fulfil their dreams of progress, development and prosperity. He further said that he had always had a strategic vision for India-China relations. The India-China partnership is important not only for the two countries, but for the entire region and the world.
Prime Minister said that, as a matter of principle, both countries would have to be sensitive to each other’s strategic interests. In order to promote positive convergences we would also need to prevent the growth of negative perceptions. For this, the specific actions by both countries would play a major role. India has worked, he said, to make progress in the Closer Developmental Partnership with China. In particular, he highlighted, we have succeeded in maintaining peace and tranquility on the border. Cultural and people to people ties have also been increasing.
Prime Minister said that to ensure durable bilateral ties and their steady development, it is of paramount importance that we respect each other’s aspirations, concerns and strategic interests.
Finally, turning to the BRICS Summit, Prime Minister extended a personal invitation to President Xi to come to Goa, to which the President said he was very happy to accept.
Today, Modi also met Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Turnbull. This was their second meeting. Last time also they had met at the G20 Summit in Antalya.
Modi began by congratulating Turnbull on his election victory. He said that India-Australia relations are full of energy. In particular, he said that implementation of mutually agreed projects and programs have been considerably speeded up under Prime Minister Turnbull’s guidance.
He also thanked Prime Minister Turnbull for Australia’s pro-active support to India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. Prime Minister Turnbull said that Australia continues to support India’s inclusion in NSG.
The two leaders also discussed the possibilities of enhancing trade and investment ties between India and Australia. In the context of trade, both sides felt that there was not enough two-way trade and much more could be done. In this context, they felt that if the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) between India and Australia could be speeded up, it would certainly provide much greater momentum to India-Australia ties.
In terms of investment, Prime Minister sought support of Prime Minister Turnbull’s support in encouraging the Australian Pension Funds to invest in India. He said our Finance Minister has recently gone to Australia at which time an “Invest in India” Round Table had been organized and he outlined some of the major opportunities coming up in India particularly in the infrastructure sector. He also said that India is a land of immense opportunities and Australian Pension Funds would find worthy investment options to invest in India in a big way.
Both Prime Ministers also discussed defense and security cooperation. In this context, both sides positively assessed the recently held naval exercises between the two sides and agreed to remain in touch.
Prime Minister then sought Prime Minister Turnbull’s support for clean-coal technology. He said that because of India’s clean energy targets, it is important for us to adopt as much clean-coal technology as possible and this is an area in which Australia has proven expertise whether it is underground mining or other forms of mining and to the extent that Australian companies can provide us those technologies, it would be a win-win partnership.
He also assessed positively the Australia-India Strategic Fund. Last time, when he had Prime Minister Turnbull, he had said that this had led to very good research in the area of fortified bananas and this time also he said that we could use it for joint research in clean-coal, clean-water and nanotechnology.
The two leaders then discussed the continuing scourge of terrorism. Prime Minister said that it is important for all democratic forces to come together to counter this challenge. Our neighborhood in particular, he said, was suffering greatly from the de-stabilizing effects of cross-border terrorism. A number of countries – he mentioned in this context, even Afghanistan, Russia, and China – they were all facing the terrorist threat emanating from our region and it was important for us to identify the suppliers, the exporters and the financiers of terrorism, otherwise the world was going to face a huge challenge in the coming time. His overall message was that we need a unified approach in countering terrorism.
Turnbull said that Australia would also welcome State Chief Ministers from India visiting Australia. The province to province partnership is an important indicator of the strength of India-Australia ties. Prime Minister reciprocated by saying that when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat a number of Premiers from Australian states had visited him and that had led to very positive synergies in terms of a closer partnership between Gujarat and those states. He said that this is something we should work on. Prime Minister Turnbull has been invited by Prime Minister Modi to visit India and we expect the visit to happen sometime next year. And at that time Prime Minister said that he could think of having a Forum of provincial leaders and city Mayors in partnership with the Australian delegation.
Prime Minister then turned to Australian expertise in sports, I think this was in the context of the Rio Olympics. Prime Minister said that he was very keen that we should benefit from the guidance and expertise of the world’s best sports administrators and coaches and countries which have acquired excellence in sports. Their partnership with India would be very crucial. Australia, in particular, he singled out as a country of just 25 million people which has achieved excellence in sports. As such it could be a very important partner for India.
Finally, he spoke on cooperation in education. Prime Minister said that there were 70,000 Indian students in Australia and we should seek ways of further intensifying our academic and student exchanges. Prime Minister Turnbull also welcomed this and said that this was something he was also very keen on.
The two leaders also discussed Australia’s participation in the International Solar Alliance. Prime Minister Turnbull said that Australia was very keen on solar energy. This was a great initiative by Prime Minister Modi and Australia looks forward to working with India as part of the International Solar Alliance.
He also said that the International Day of Yoga was another great initiative. Prime Minister Modi complimented him on the message that he had sent on the occasion of the Second International Day of Yoga, which he said, had almost gone viral. Prime Minister Turnbull said that, in fact, his wife is very keen to participate in yoga activities and hopefully that will happen in the future.
Prime Minister’s interventions at the BRICS Leaders Summit.
The customary meeting of BRICS leaders is an informal meeting that takes place on the sidelines of the G20 Summit. The meeting was held today morning that lasted for little under an hour and half.
This meeting was among the two Summit level engagements of BRICS leaders. Prime Minister Modi in his capacity as BRICS Chairperson, Chaired its proceedings.
This meeting was significant in the context that one of the BRICS countries is hosting the G20 Summit this year. This has happened once in the past when one of the BRICS member country, the Russian Federation hosted the G20 Summit. This occasion was also in the context that in a month’s time BRICS leaders will gather for the 8th BRICS Summit in Goa.
There was lots of convergence in what leaders discussed at the meeting.
Among the leaders, Chinese President spoke of the rise of emerging markets and he termed BRICS as a champion of this phenomenon. Prime Minister Modi said that BRICS is an influential voice in international discourse.
The leaders broadly touched upon the G20 agenda. There was convergence between the G20 and BRICS agendas in the meeting. BRICS Leaders briefly touched upon issues of global political and security significance. They deliberated ongoing deliberations in G20 such as SDGs, energy, corruption. They also looked forward to the exchange of views at the Goa BRICS Summit.
Prime Minister Modi welcomed President Temer of Brazil to the BRICS family. This was the first time that President Temer was interacting and participating in BRICS proceedings. He was welcomed to the family and leaders looked forward to positive contributions on a range of issues from Brazil.
Prime Minister Modi refereed to India’s core theme for BRICS this year of looking for collective solutions. He highlighted a set of issues like possibilities of collaborations for collective action on terrorism and development. He specifically mentioned Paris Climate Agreement, corruption and reform in the institution of global governance and energy issues. Prime Minister recalled some of the key initiatives that he has proposed at the BRICS deliberations such as BRICS credit rating agency, collaborations in the fields of agriculture and railways, and setting up of BRICS Sports Council.
There was convergence of views with regard to setting up of BRICS Credit Rating Agency. There was vocal support for this from South Africa and the Chinese side was optimistic on a market based credit rating agency.
The urgent need for collaboration and cooperation on counter terrorism also featured prominently in leader’s interventions.
Prime Minister Modi intervened on the issue of terrorism. He said that it remains the primary source of instability and the biggest threat to societies and countries. He said its supply chain and reach are global. The use of social media to promote radical ideologies is a growing dimension of this threat.
In a very hard hitting intervention he said that the terrorists in South Asia or anywhere for that matter do not own banks or weapons factories. Clearly someone funds and arms them and BRICS must intensify its joint efforts, not just to fight terror but to coordinate actions to isolate those who are supporters and sponsors of terror.
Media briefing in Hangzhou Official Spokesperson Vikas Swarup and Alok Dimri, JS (MER- Multilateral Economic Relations).
