PM Modi moots IBSA Fund for climate resilient agriculture at Johannesburg meet

Johannesburg: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday proposed the setting up of an IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa) Fund for Climate Resilient Agriculture to further advance South-South cooperation.

In his address at the IBSA leaders meeting here, the Prime Minister appreciated the IBSA Fund’s work in supporting projects across forty countries in sectors like education, health, women empowerment and solar energy.

The meeting was hosted by South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa and attended by the President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Describing the meeting as timely, PM Modi said that it coincided with the first G20 Summit on African soil and marked the culmination of four consecutive G20 presidencies by Global South countries, out of which the last three were by the IBSA members. This, he noted, has resulted in several important initiatives focussed on human-centric development, multilateral reform and sustainable growth.

Prime Minister emphasised that IBSA is not just a group of three countries but an important platform connecting three continents, three major democratic nations, and three major economies.

PM Modi stated that IBSA can complement each other’s development and become an example for sustainable growth. He highlighted cooperation opportunities in areas such as millets, natural farming, disaster resilience, green energy, traditional medicines and health security.

He also emphasised IBSA’s potential to contribute to the development of safe, trustworthy and human-centric AI norms. He invited IBSA leaders to the AI Impact Summit to be held in India next year.

Prime Minister stressed that global governance institutions are far removed from 21st century realities. He called on IBSA to send a strong message that reform of institutions of global governance, in particular the UN Security Council, is now not an option, but an imperative.

Highlighting technology’s crucial role in ensuring human-centric development, Prime Minister proposed establishing an ‘IBSA Digital Innovation Alliance’ to facilitate sharing of Digital Public Infrastructure like UPI, health platforms like CoWIN, cybersecurity frameworks and women-led tech initiatives among the three countries.

IBSA stands for India, Brazil, and South Africa, a forum that brings together these three large, democratic, and developing nations to discuss common challenges and cooperate on development initiatives. It is a trilateral group formalised in 2003 with the aim of promoting South-South cooperation and a more inclusive global governance system.

IANS