PM Modi chairs 13th BRICS summit, leaders discuss Afghanistan crisis

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is presiding over the 13th BRICS summit via video conferencing. Brazil President Jair Bolsanaro, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping are attending the meeting.

During the summit, PM Modi said, "It is a matter of pleasure for me and India to preside over this summit on the 15th anniversary of BRICS. We have a detailed agenda for today's meeting." PM Modi said that BRICS has achieved many achievements in the last one and a half-decade. "Today we are an influential voice for the emerging economies of the world. This forum has also been useful for focusing on the priorities of developing countries," he said.

Modi said, "We have to ensure that BRICS becomes more productive in the next 15 years. The theme that India has chosen for its presidency reflects this priority. Recently, the first BRICS Digital Health Conference was organized. This is a new step in increasing access to health with the help of technology."

He added, "We have made a plan for counter-terrorism. In November, our Water Resources Minister will meet for the first time in BRICS format."

At the 13th BRICS summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a big statement about Afghanistan. He said that Afghanistan should not become a threat to its neighbouring countries. Putin expressed the possibility of Afghanistan becoming a hotbed of terrorism and drug smuggling.

He further said that The withdrawal of US forces & its allies from Afghanistan has led to a new crisis, and it's still unclear how this will affect global & regional security. "It is for good reason that our countries have paid special attention to this issue," he said.

The meeting is also being attended by India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, President of the New Development Bank Marcos Troyjo, the pro tempore chair of the BRICS Business Council, Onkar Kanwar and pro tempore Chair of the BRICS Women's Business Alliance, Sangita Reddy. They will present reports on the outcomes pursued this year under their respective tracks to the leaders during the summit.

Source : DNA India