UN reforms not optional: PM Modi at IBSA meet

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said global institutions had drifted far from 21st-century realities and must undergo urgent reforms. He warned that the absence of India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) as permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) “is a proof of the system’s deep mismatch with today’s world”.

“IBSA must send a united message to the world that institutional reform is no longer optional, it is a necessity,” the Prime Minister said at the IBSA leaders’ meeting in Johannesburg, held on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

Turning sharply to terrorism, Modi said there could be “no double standards” in the global fight against extremism and urged IBSA nations to move forward with “close coordination” to safeguard peace and stability.

He recalled that India, during its 2021 IBSA chairship, hosted the first meeting of the three countries’ national security advisers and proposed giving the mechanism a formal, institutional structure to deepen security cooperation.

Participating in the trilateral meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Modi said IBSA was not merely a grouping but a bridge linking three continents and three major democratic economies bound by shared values and aspirations.

Underscoring the centrality of emerging technologies in human-centric development, the PM proposed setting up an “IBSA Digital Innovation Alliance” to enable cooperation on digital public infrastructure such as UPI, health platforms like CoWIN, cyber security frameworks and women-led tech initiatives. The alliance, he said, would accelerate digital economies and generate scalable solutions for the Global South.

He added that India, Brazil and South Africa could together shape “safe, reliable and human-centric AI norms”, suggesting that the initiative should be formally launched at the AI Impact Summit scheduled in India next year.

Arguing that IBSA can serve as a global model for sustainable development, Modi said the three countries could pool strengths in areas such as millets, natural farming, disaster resilience, green energy, traditional medicine and health security.