‘Secure sea lanes, seafarers’: PM Modi’s navigation safety message to BRICS leaders

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took up the issue of seafarers' safety during the Leaders' Session of BRICS Business Forum on Friday and emphasised on the need to have secure sea lanes. Modi noted that India is a staunch supporter of freedom of navigation and the safety of seafarers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivers an address during the Leaders' Session of the BRICS Business Forum at Bharat Mandapam, in New Delhi. (@pmoindia)“Global trade progress is possible only when sea lanes are secure, supply routes remain open, and seafarers are safe.

That is why India is a staunch supporter of freedom of navigation and the safety of seafarers.” Modi said. The remarks come in the backdrop of the West Asia conflict that hit fuel supplies through the Strait of Hormuz route as US and Iran continue to be at loggerheads.

Track live updates on BRICS summit Modi also raised the safety of Indian seafarers in the Black Sea with Russian President Vladimir Putin as the two leaders held bilateral talks. He reiterated India's readiness to support any peace initiative to end the Ukraine conflict even as both leaders agreed to shore up bilateral trade ties amid growing uncertainties and geopolitical upheaval.

Two Indian nationals, 31-year-old Rohan Kumar from Bihar's Gopalganj district and 30-year-old Herambh Karmarkar from Pune, were reportedly killed in separate incidents on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz over the past few months amid US-Iran war.

India is the world's third-largest supplier of seafarers, with more than 300,000 sailors working on ships worldwide, according to government data. Following the killings, India directed shipowners, ship managers and recruitment companies not to deploy Indian seafarers on vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Between March and July, Since March 1, 57 vessels carrying India-bound cargo transited the strait. About 21 of these were India-flagged and 36 foreign-flagged, HT reported earlier. Modi also urged the BRICS Business Council to prepare to identify the top 10 trade barriers among BRICS nations and called for supporting 100 BRICS startups annually to expand into other member markets.

He also called for forging 1,000 new partnerships among businesses across BRICS nations and suggested that progress on these three parameters should be reviewed every year. "As BRICS enters its third decade, I would like to urge the BRICS Business Council: Can you prepare a report on removing the top ten trade barriers among BRICS nations?

Can we support 100 BRICS startups annually to scale up in other BRICS markets? Can we forge a thousand new partnerships among our businesses?" PM Modi said. "We should review our progress on these three parameters every year.

Let us transform BRICS' ambitions into action and our collective strength into global solutions. Let BRICS move forward and propel the world forward as well," he added. The Prime Minister also stressed the importance of secure sea lanes and supply routes for the growth of global trade.

"Global trade progress is possible only when sea lanes are secure, supply routes remain open, and seafarers are safe. That is why India is a staunch supporter of freedom of navigation and the safety of seafarers," PM Modi said.

BRICS currently comprises 11 countries including Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the UAE. According to background information on India's 2026 chairship, BRICS members collectively account for around 49.5 per cent of the global population, 40 per cent of global GDP and 26 per cent of global trade.

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