Johannesburg, Aug 23 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday called upon the BRICS nations to form “BRICS Space exploration consortium” which will focus on space research and weather monitoring.Addressing the plenary session of the 15th BRICS Summit here in South Africa, the Prime Minister said, “We are already working on the BRICS satellite constellation, but to move a step further, we should think about establishing a BRICS space exploration consortium”.
He said to make BRICS a future-ready organisation, the respective societies also have to be made future-ready, and added that technology will play an essential role in the transformation.
“In the last two decades, BRICS has undertaken a long and magnificent journey and in this journey, the group has made numerous achievements”, the Prime Minister said.
He also called on all BRICS countries to support the inclusion of the African Union in the G20.
“We welcome the move to give special importance to the countries of the global south in BRICS under the chairmanship of South Africa. India has also given importance to this subject under its G20 presidency”, the PM said.
The Prime Minister pointed out that To give a new path to the BRICS agenda, India had put forth suggestions on issues such as railway research network, close cooperation between MSMEs, online BRICS database and startup firms. He expressed happiness that a lot of progress was made on these issues.
Making an initial remark, at the open plenary session South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said BRICS nations need to advance the interests of the global south and called upon the industrialised countries to honour their commitments to support climate actions through economic progress.
Congratulating India for the Chandrayaan-3 mission, he said, “In a few hours Chandrayaan-3 will be landing on the moon. This for us, as the BRICS family, is a momentous occasion and we rejoice with you. We join you in the joy of this great achievement”.
Earlier Prime Minister Modi held a meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during which they reviewed the progress made in bilateral ties, exchanged views on regional and multilateral issues and also on ways to work jointly to strengthen the voice of the Global South.
“Had an excellent meeting with President @CyrilRamaphosa. We discussed a wide range of issues aimed at deepening India-South Africa relations—trade, defence and investment linkages featured prominently in our discussions. We will keep working together to strengthen the voice of the Global South as well” Modi said on X.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, “Both leaders reviewed the progress made in bilateral relations between the two countries and expressed satisfaction at the progress achieved in various fields including defence, agriculture, trade and investment, health, conservation and people-to-people ties.”
The PM reached South Africa on Tuesday at the invitation of President Ramaphosa to attend the 15th BRICS Summit being held under the South African Chairmanship from August 22-24.
