At New Delhi’s BRICS forum, Modi calls for secure sea lanes and safer seafarers

“Global trade progress is possible only when sea lanes are secure, supply routes remain open, and seafarers are safe,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the BRICS Business Forum in New Delhi.

Modi said India remained a supporter of freedom of navigation and seafarer safety, in remarks that referred to concerns over attacks on India-linked ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The shipping corridor has become a point of tension amid the conflict involving the United States and Iran.

At the forum, held alongside the BRICS summit in New Delhi, Modi said BRICS countries account for 50% of the world’s population, 40% of global GDP and more than a quarter of global trade. Their combined GDP, he said, had expanded nearly four-and-a-half-fold, compared with global GDP growth of about two-and-a-half-fold.

He said India had signed free-trade agreements with 40 countries and cited new BRICS cooperation networks in agriculture, health, skills and smart grids. Modi also named the BRICS Incubator Network, MSME Portal and Startup Innovation Fund as platforms intended to connect smaller businesses with markets and finance.

On the summit’s sidelines, Modi separately met Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.