Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri has said the founding of the New Development Bank by the BRICS nations was an act of great foresight by the leaders of the five-member bloc as it is important to meet the infrastructure financing needs of the developing countries. The Shanghai-headquartered NDB was established by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) in 2015 to mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in the five-member nations and other emerging market economies and developing countries, complementing the existing efforts of the multilateral and regional financial institutions for global growth and development.
In 2021, NDB initiated membership expansion and admitted the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay and Bangladesh as its first new member countries. The bank’s founding was an act of great foresight, creative thinking and political courage on the part of the BRICS leaders,” Misri said at New Development Bank Think Lab in Shanghai on Wednesday.
The importance of NDB is in meeting the infrastructure financing needs of developing countries, he said. In his speech, Misri said the key elements of global order are not working for all stakeholders.
Political, technological and economic shifts are taking place over the last 75 years impacting the multilateral system, which has not kept pace with either the diffusion of political power or the economic rebalancing that has taken place, he said. The shifts have also impacted globalisation including global markets, supply chains and global talent mobility, the Indian envoy said.
“The coronavirus pandemic has accentuated these crises. Unfortunately, it did not see the level of cooperation required to tackle it. It took two BRICS countries, India and South Africa, to argue for a TRIPS waiver for vaccines in the WTO,” he said.
TRIPS stands for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. In a landmark move, India and South Africa in October last year had asked the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to allow all countries to choose to neither grant nor enforce patents and other intellectual property related to COVID-19 drugs, vaccines, diagnostics and other technologies for the duration of the pandemic, until global herd immunity is achieved.
The proposal has gained momentum and 63 countries have co-sponsored the draft as of May 2021. Misri said a serious reform of global political and economic architecture is necessary.
“We are seeing the rise of multipolarity and plurilateralism. We should also focus on reformed multilateralism. Reform of the UN, including the Security Council, together with reforms at WTO, WHO (World Health Organisation), World Bank and IMF (International Monetary Fund) are imperative in order to promote inclusion, democracy and accountability,” he said.
India is beginning to emerge from a pandemic-induced economic slowdown.
The policy framework of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant India), labour, agriculture and education reforms, besides focus on start-ups and economic stimulus are propelling India forward, the envoy said.
“This is good news for NDB as India is its largest client. We are also leading on SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) through ISA (International Solar Alliance),” he asserted.
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