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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged the BRICS Business Council to prepare a report identifying the top 10 trade barriers among BRICS nations and called for supporting 100 BRICS startups annually to expand into other member markets.
Addressing the Leaders' Session of the BRICS Business Forum in New Delhi, PM Modi 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. Highlighting the role of women entrepreneurs, he said the BRICS Women's Business Alliance was a key part of India's vision. "The BRICS Womens Business Alliance is also a key part of our vision. We want women entrepreneurs to lead our growth story. We are delighted that around 200 women business leaders participated in the meeting of this alliance held in India," he said. Earlier, PM Modi joined BRICS leaders, Chairs of the BRICS Business Council and the BRICS Women's Business Alliance for a family photograph in the national capital on the occasion of the BRICS Business Forum 2026. The photograph featured PM Modi alongside Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, among other dignitaries. The BRICS Business Forum is the flagship private-sector platform of the grouping and is convened annually in the Summit host country on the eve of the Leaders' Summit. It brings together business leaders, Ministers and Heads of State to discuss trade, investment, finance, technology and development challenges shaping the BRICS economic agenda. The forum also provides a platform for presenting and discussing key ideas and suggestions from the BRICS Business Council. Its conclusions and recommendations are regularly reflected in BRICS Summit declarations and follow-up work plans, covering areas including intra-BRICS trade, investment, digital economy, MSMEs, standards cooperation and value-chain integration. The Business Forum is being held as India hosts the 18th BRICS Summit under its 2026 chairship. India's chairship is guided by the theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability", with development, sustainability and innovation among its key areas of focus. BRICS has emerged as an important platform for coordination among major emerging economies and for advancing the interests of the Global South in multilateral institutions. Its agenda covers development, finance, technology, trade and people-to-people exchanges. The grouping currently comprises 11 countries -- 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. India's BRICS chairship comes amid global economic fragmentation, technological disruption, geopolitical uncertainty, climate change and resource pressures. The chairship is focused on translating the expanded representation of BRICS into meaningful cooperation and tangible outcomes while building consensus among its diverse members and strengthening existing mechanisms. The Business Forum, with participation from business leaders, Ministers and Heads of State, is therefore an important component of India's BRICS chairship as the grouping discusses priorities spanning trade, investment, finance, technology and development. (ANI)
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