NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned on Sunday that the “weaponisation” of technology and critical minerals could hinder shared prosperity, urging BRICS to rise through cooperation even as its leaders unveiled mega plans, including an open-source AI ecosystem to assist the Global South.
In his address at the concluding session of the BRICS summit hosted by India, the prime minister flagged concerns over growing global conflicts and called on the member nations to work together to protect ordinary citizens from their fallout and strengthen collective resilience against future challenges.
The annual summit of BRICS, a grouping of 11 major emerging economies representing around 49.5% of the world’s population and 40% of global GDP, concluded with key outcomes in logistics supply chains, startups and infectious disease control, with its member nations calling for better global governance and trading architecture to navigate current challenges.
The summit was seen as successful, with India pulling off a diplomatic victory by producing a consensus joint declaration after overcoming sharp differences between the United Arab Emirates and Tehran regarding the West Asia conflict.
In his address, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that China will lead the creation of an open-source AI ecosystem for BRICS member nations as part of a five-point initiative to boost cooperation in technology, manufacturing and trade. Xi’s announcement is widely seen as an effort to position Beijing as a central technology partner for BRICS amid the communist state’s growing AI competition with the US. China will host the next BRICS summit.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, on his part, proposed a new insurance mechanism and a collaborative initiative for the grain market among the BRICS nations as he called upon the grouping to adopt a holistic approach in combating pressing global challenges.