BRIC can recast world order: Manmohan
By Manish Chand, IANSFriday, April 16, 2010
BRASILIA - The BRIC grouping of the world´s top emerging economies, accounting for 20 percent of global GDP, have a key role in recasting the global architecture of governance and in setting the pace of global economic recovery, said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Manmohan Singh made a vigorous case for a “multipolar, equitable, democratic and just world order” at the daylong BRIC summit, which was advanced to Thursday night as Chinese President Hu Jintao had to cut short his trip due a massive earthquake in China.
“BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries are uniquely placed to contribute to reforming the architecture of global governance,” Manmohan Singh said at the plenary session of the BRIC summit, attended by Hu, Brazilian President Lula da Silva and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
“A genuine reform of the Security Council by expansion in its permanent membership as well as non-permanent membership and improvement in its working methods is essential to make the UN reflective of contemporary realities,” said Manmohan Singh.
Putting his pet concerns on top of the BRIC agenda, Manmohan Singh, an economist by training, espoused inclusive growth and called for sharing experiences among the four countries in promoting sustainable development and in areas of food and energy security.
“The people of our countries expect us to work together so as to bring the benefits of inclusive social and economic development to them,” he said while lauding Lula for his experiments in social inclusion in this country.
Ahead of the G8 and G20 summits later this year, Manmohan Singh underlined that BRIC countries have “an important role to play in shaping the pace, direction and sustainability of global economic growth”.
“Sustainable recovery will also depend on several factors such as enhanced investment for infrastructure development, stable capital flows to the developing markets, appropriate macroeconomic adjustments, and avoiding complacency in the area of financial sector reforms,” he said.
Calling for adoption of clean technologies, Manmohan Singh underlined the critical role of BRIC countries in setting the discourse on climate change negotiations.
“Our approach to the Cancun Conference (in November) should be anchored within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol and the Bali Roadmap,” he said.
“If we pool our best scientific and technological resources, BRIC nations can set a fine example in promoting collaborative development, deployment and dissemination of clean energy and renewable technologies,” Manmohan Singh said.
