Modi Urges Brics to Tear Down Trade Barriers, Prioritise Seafarer Safety
Modi called for barrier-free trade within Brics, secure sea lanes and seafarer safety, while pitching India as a start-up hub and proposing annual benchmarks for the bloc.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday pressed for the removal of trade barriers within Brics and underlined the need to safeguard sea lanes and seafarers, addressing the Leaders' Session of the Brics Business Forum on the eve of the group's summit on 12-13 September.
Modi said India is building economic bridges through dozens of trade agreements at a time when many others are turning more protectionist, making the case for freer commerce inside the 11-member bloc. Global trade, he said, can accelerate only when sea lanes are secure, supply routes stay open and seafarers are safe.
The remarks come amid mounting concern over the safety of crews in the West Asia conflict. More than 15 seafarers, many of them Indian, have been killed in attacks on merchant vessels in and around the Strait of Hormuz since joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran began on 28 February.
As Brics enters its third decade, Modi sought annual benchmarking of the group's progress on three indicators: removing trade hurdles, enabling at least 100 start-ups to scale up in one another's markets, and fostering thousands of business tie-ups within the bloc. He asked business leaders and policymakers to identify the top 10 obstacles to intra-group commerce and propose solutions.
He noted the grouping's growing economic weight, saying its GDP has expanded almost four and a half times over two decades while the world grew about two and a half times. Brics now accounts for half the world's population, 40% of global GDP and a quarter of world trade, he said.
Pitching India as a start-up and innovation destination, Modi invited foreign investors to make in India, innovate with India and build at scale for the world. The country has well over 2,00,000 start-ups, including about 120 unicorns, and is emerging as a hub for global solutions, he said.
Citing the summit theme of Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability, he said India has woven these priorities into its economic and trade policies. He reaffirmed India's support for deeper cooperation, pointing to progress in physical and digital infrastructure and to new avenues for investment in key sectors, including strategic ones such as defence and space.
"Our approach remains the same -- to remove barriers and make more opportunities available for businesses," he said, highlighting India's role in advancing cooperation in agriculture, health, skills and smart grids. To connect start-ups and small businesses with markets and finance, he cited the Brics incubator network, the Brics MSME portal and the Brics start-up innovation fund.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told the forum that the world is undergoing deep structural shifts, with the old engines of 20th-century growth being replaced by new ones. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian focused on the need to expand Brics trade in local currencies.
Earlier in the day, Modi met Putin, with the two sides reaffirming their intent to deepen cooperation in political, economic, defence, energy and other sectors. The talks also covered India-Russia engagement in Brics and an exchange of views on regional and global issues, including the West Asia conflict, the external affairs ministry said.