Rio de Janeiro/New Delhi, July 7 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the Pahalgam terror attack as an attack on the "entire humanity’’ not just on India, and decried the "double standards’’ in dealing with the scourge.

The Prime Minister in his inaugural address at the BRICS Summit at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil on Sunday called for strong global action against terrorism and said those funding, promoting and providing safe havens to terrorists must be dealt with in the "harshest terms".

Speaking on ‘Reform of Global Governance and Peace and Security’, he described terrorism as a grave threat facing humanity and said "the Pahalgam terror attack in April was not just an attack on India, but an onslaught on the entire humanity".

Those funding, promoting or providing safe havens to terrorists must be dealt with in the harshest terms, he said and emphasized that there should be no double standards in dealing with terrorism.

Calling upon BRICS countries to strengthen the global fight against terrorism, he called for "zero tolerance" in dealing with the menace.

The BRICS leaders held discussions on various issues including reform of global governance, enhancing the voice of the Global South, peace and security, strengthening multi-lateralism, development issues and Artificial Intelligence.

The Prime Minister also addressed the session on 'Strengthening Multilateral, Economic-Financial Affairs and Artificial Intelligence'.
Reaffirming India’s commitment to enhancing the voice of the Global South, he said developing countries required greater support for sustainable development in terms of access to climate finance and technology.

Pointing out that global organizations of the 20th century lacked the capacity to deal with the challenges of the 21st century, he underscored the need for reforming them and called for a multipolar and inclusive world order.

He called for urgent reforms in global governance institutions like the UN Security Council, IMF, World Bank and WTO to reflect contemporary realities.

Expressing deep concern at global conflicts he said India had always called for dialogue and diplomacy to resolve such conflicts and was ready to contribute towards such efforts.

Addressing the session on 'Strengthening Multi-lateralism, Economic-Financial Affairs and Artificial Intelligence', the Prime Minister said diversity and multi-polarity were valued strengths of the BRICS. At a time when the world order was under pressure and the global community facing uncertainty and challenges, the relevance of BRICS was evident.

BRICS could play an important role in shaping a multipolar world, he said, and suggested that the BRICS New Development Bank must follow demand driven principle and long-term sustainability for granting projects.

Also the group must consider setting up a Science and Research repository which could benefit the Global South countries and focus must be given to make the supply chain of critical minerals secured and resilient.
The group should work for responsible AI. While looking into the concerns of AI governance, it should also give equal importance to promoting innovation in the field, the Prime Minister added.
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