PM Modi at BRICS summit: Dismantle ‘pyramid of privilege’ to make Global South a ‘rule-shaper’

Underlining that the BRICS summit is “coming of age”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday pitched for a greater role for the developing countries in global decision-making architecture. He said the Global South should move from being a “rule-taker” to “rule-shaper”.

Addressing the opening session of BRICS, PM Modi said the current global decision-making architecture looks like a “pyramid” – those at the top are making the decisions and are powerful, and those at the bottom are the ones affected and have no powers and leverage.

He observed that the “pyramid of privilege” should be transformed into a “platform of partnership”. He also said BRICS has assumed its identity and is moving forward “through consensus”. “We are not against anyone,” he said at a time when BRICS is being portrayed as an anti-West grouping by many.

He further said that BRICS should not lose “institutional momentum” despite having a rotational chairship. To maintain momentum, Modi proposed “continuity and implementation” through the Troika mechanism, which will follow up on the initiatives and projects.

This will be done through a digital repository of implementation, status, and timeline. Before receiving the leaders of BRICS member countries, the Indian prime minister held meetings with leaders of Ethiopia, Malaysia, and the UAE in the morning.

Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 27 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting and writing explainers and analysis on foreign affairs for about 19 years now.

Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016.

He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He won the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award, 2023, for the second time for his reporting of the Oct 7 attacks on Israel and the war in Gaza.

He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021.

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