Modi chaired the 13th annual summit of the BRICS group online, an acronym for the grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Those nations account for 42 percent of the world’s population, 23 percent of the global Gross Domestic Product and 16 percent of world trade, and cover an area of approximately 27 percent of the earth’s land surface.

Modi thanked all BRICS members for their cooperation during his transitional presidency of the organization.

The PM noted that the group is an influential voice for the world’s emerging economies and serves to focus attention on the priorities of developing nations.

He also highlighted the creation by the BRICS of strong institutions such as the New Development Bank, the Contingency Reserve Arrangement and the Energy Research Cooperation Platform.

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