At BRICS Summit, India Pitches Four Pillars for Inclusive Global Growth

India's BRICS presidency has been built around four pillars — resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability — Prime Minister said while opening the 18th BRICS Summit session, describing the gathering as a meeting point for continents, cultures and differing development journeys.

The Prime Minister said the breadth of the grouping's expanded family reflected its growing strength, appeal and the confidence it commands. With support from partner countries, the shared vision of the presidency had been translated into win-win cooperation, he said.

Resilience

Noting that tensions around the world are rising and weighing on ordinary lives, the Prime Minister said pandemics, climate disasters and supply-chain disruptions had shown that no crisis stays confined to one region in an interconnected world. India therefore pressed for greater emphasis on resilience within BRICS — identifying challenges early, preparing for them and acting swiftly.

Under this approach, members agreed to a BRICS Integrated Early Warning System for the prevention of and response to infectious diseases. Early Warning Data Integration Guidelines have been prepared for disaster management, and a BRICS Logistics Supply Chain Cooperation Framework is expected to make supply chains more reliable and resilient.

Innovation

The BRICS Incubator Network will link start-ups and incubators across member countries, while a proposed BRICS Startup Innovation Fund aims to promote innovative and scalable solutions. A BRICS Network on Digital Agriculture is intended to open new possibilities for farmers by connecting artificial intelligence, geospatial technology and Digital Public Infrastructure to their real needs.

Cautioning that the weaponisation of technology and critical minerals could hinder shared progress, the Prime Minister stressed inclusivity in the adoption of technology.

Cooperation

India has sought to take friendship, participation and cooperation forward through BRICS so that collaboration is not limited to governments but includes entrepreneurs, farmers, researchers, women, youth and ordinary citizens. Through BRICS CONNECT, the grouping has promoted skills, employability, women in the workforce, social security and capacity building. A BRICS MSME Cooperation Portal has been initiated to connect small enterprises with knowledge, finance and new markets, and a BRICS Urban Mobility Hub has been set up for cities to share best practices.

Sustainability

Invoking the Indian civilisational tradition of treating nature as a mother, the Prime Minister said development and environment are complementary rather than competing goals, and that balancing human development with ecology is the foundation of sustainability and a duty to future generations.

Progress in this direction includes a BRICS Digital Centre of Excellence for smart grids and energy storage, meant to make clean energy systems more reliable, efficient and accessible. Centres of Excellence for agro-ecology and regenerative agriculture will connect traditional knowledge with modern science, while principles prepared for community-based climate adaptation will place indigenous knowledge at the heart of climate action.

The Prime Minister said solutions developed within BRICS should not remain confined to the grouping but be made adaptable and accessible to the needs of the Global South. Drawing on his own experience, he said trust in BRICS among Global South countries has grown because their voices are heard, their experience is respected, and solutions are built with them rather than for them.

He described diversity and cooperation as the grouping's strength, saying its members may be rooted in different realities but rise together through cooperation and blossom for humanity.