Prime Minister Modi urged deeper IBSA cooperation, proposing new initiatives on agriculture, technology, governance reforms and human-centric development.
Johannesburg
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday proposed the creation of an IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa) Fund for Climate Resilient Agriculture, aimed at bolstering South–South cooperation and supporting sustainable farming practices. Speaking at the IBSA leaders’ meeting, hosted by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and attended by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Modi commended the IBSA Fund’s existing work across 40 countries in sectors such as education, health, women’s empowerment and solar energy.
Calling the meeting timely, Modi noted its alignment with the first G20 Summit held on African soil and the completion of four consecutive G20 presidencies by Global South nations — three of which were led by IBSA members. This sequence, he said, had ushered in important initiatives centred on human-centric development, multilateral reforms and sustainable growth.
The Prime Minister underlined that IBSA is not merely a grouping of three nations but a powerful platform connecting three continents, three robust democracies and three major economies. He stated that the member countries can complement one another’s development journeys and serve as a global example of sustainable, inclusive progress.
Modi highlighted several potential areas of collaboration, including millets promotion, natural farming, disaster resilience, green energy, traditional medicine and health security. Stressing the transformative power of technology, he said IBSA could play a key role in shaping safe, reliable and human-centric global AI norms. He invited leaders to the AI Impact Summit to be held in India next year.
Calling for urgent reform of global governance institutions, especially the UN Security Council, Modi argued that existing structures no longer reflect contemporary geopolitical and developmental realities. As part of enhancing cooperation, he proposed establishing an IBSA Digital Innovation Alliance to facilitate the sharing of Digital Public Infrastructure such as UPI, health platforms like CoWIN.
