Opening Remarks by Prime Minister at the BRICS Summit (July 15, 2014)
07/15/2014

Your Excellency, President Dilma Rousseff
Your Excellency, President Vladimir Putin
Your Excellency, President Xi Jinping
Your Excellency, President Jacob Zuma

Distinguished delegates, ladies, and gentlemen

I am delighted to be in Brazil for the sixth BRICS Summit. This is my first Summit and I look forward to benefiting from your wisdom.

I convey my profound gratitude to our gracious host, President Dilma Rousseff, the people, and the Government of Brazil.

Madam, I congratulate you for successfully hosting the Football World Cup. Truly, the ‘beautiful game’ brings the world together.

I thank President Zuma for his leadership during South Africa’s Chairmanship of BRICS. We have made significant progress.

Your Excellencies, the first BRICS Summit took place in the middle of a global economic crisis. BRICS was a ray of hope.

It supplemented existing international institutions with newer ideas and mechanisms.

It provided an additional avenue  of working for global economic recovery and stability.

It was a new voice  in the cause of global peace and development.

I am happy that we are living upto that promise.

However, the challenges of economic weakness, and political turmoil  are still with us. The need to address them is urgent.

The choices we make now  will shape the future of not just our countries, but the World at large. This is a great responsibility we bear.

I thus, commend Brazil for the theme of this Summit –Inclusive Growth: Sustainable Solutions. It captures our responsibility to humanity, and our obligation to future generations.

I am confident that this Summit will be a landmark in this mission.

I extend our best wishes to Brazil as it assumes the BRICS Chair.

India offers its full support in taking the BRICS agenda forward for the benefit of our countries, and the world at large.

Thank you.