Prime minister Manmohan Singh pitched for close cooperation among them in the fields of energy and food security besides tapping potential in other sectors.
Noting that India, Russia, China and Brazil are resource-rich, prime minister Manmohan Singh today pitched for close cooperation among them in the fields of energy and food security besides tapping potential in other sectors like trade and investment, science and technology and infrastructure.
Addressing the Brazil-Russia-India-China (BRIC) Summit here, he said the four countries can benefit by sharing their experiences in the field of inclusive growth.
"We are four large countries with abundant resources, large populations and diverse societies... We aspire for rapid growth for ourselves and for an external environment that is conducive to our development goals," Singh told the second Summit of the four-nation grouping here in the Brazilian capital.
Contending that the people of the four countries "expect us to work together so as to bring the benefits of inclusive social and economic development to them", he identified energy and food security as two specific areas where they can work together.
"Our grouping includes two of the largest energy producers and two of the largest consumers in the world. We can cooperate in both upstream and downstream areas, and in the development of new fuels and clean energy technologies," he said.
Similarly, BRIC countries are both large producers and consumers of agricultural products, he said, proposing that the four nations should consider putting in place an architecture of food security that focusses on increasing agricultural productivity, better land use, sustainable farming practices and agro-processing.
Besides this, there is vast potential for cooperation in areas such as science and technology, trade and investment, pharmaceuticals and infrastructure, Singh said. "Investments in human capital will create new sources of growth."
The prime minister said BRIC countries have an important role to play in the shaping the pace, direction and sustainability of global economic growth.
Recalling that the four countries had at the last Summit decided to commission a BRIC Study on which way the world economy will move in the period ahead, Singh said India has circulated the draft terms of reference for the study and "we would be happy to carry this idea forward."
On the global economic and financial crisis, he said while it appears that that it is "behind us, it is still early to say that we are on the path of long term recovery."
Singh said a lot would depend on how the developed economies fare.
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