IBSA Spotlight: Modi says UNSC reforms is no longer an option, it's a necessity

Hosted by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the meeting was attended by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Modi described the gathering as timely, noting that it coincided with the first G20 Summit hosted on African soil and followed four consecutive G20 presidencies by Global South countries, including three IBSA members.

Modi said the grouping represents three continents, three major democracies and three major economies, and has played a central role in advancing human-centric development, multilateral reforms and sustainable growth.

Calling for coordinated action against terrorism, Modi said there should be no room for double standards in global counter-terror efforts.

The Prime Minister proposed the creation of an “IBSA Digital Innovation Alliance” to expand cooperation on Digital Public Infrastructure, including platforms such as UPI and CoWIN, as well as cybersecurity and women-led tech initiatives.

Modi said IBSA could also shape global norms for safe, trustworthy and human-centric artificial intelligence, and invited the leaders to the AI Impact Summit to be hosted by India next year.

He highlighted opportunities for collaboration in millets, natural farming, disaster resilience, green energy, traditional medicine and health security.

Modi also praised the IBSA Fund for supporting projects in 40 countries across education, health, women’s empowerment and solar energy, and proposed an IBSA Fund for Climate-Resilient Agriculture to strengthen South-South cooperation.