Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the 13^th BRICS Summit virtually, on 9^th September, 2021. The theme chosen by India was BRICS@15: Intra-BRICS Co-operation for Continuity, Consolidation and Consensus. The Summit was attended by all the BRICS leaders from India, Brazil, China, Russia, South Africa. Emphasizing the leading role of BRICS Countries in the post covid recuperation, the Prime Minister called for an enhanced BRICS Co-operation with the motto of ‘’Build-back Resiliently, Innovatively, Credibly and Sustainably’. The economic and financial aspects shall aim to promote economic growth and development for mutual prosperity through the expansion of intra-BRICS cooperation in sectors such as trade, agriculture, infrastructure, small and medium enterprises, energy and finance & banking. 

Adding further on these terms, Prime Minister stressed the need for accelerating ‘build-back’ by enhancing speed and accessibility of vaccination, creating ‘resilience’ by diversifying pharma and vaccine production capacities beyond the developed world, fostering ‘innovation’ by creatively using digital tools for public good, ensuring reform of multilateral institutions to enhance their ‘credibility’, and promoting ‘sustainable’ development by articulating a common BRICS voice on environmental and climate issues. The summit also discussed various regional and global issues of global importance, which includes recent developments in Afghanistan, where all the BRICS partners agreed to accelerate implementation of the BRICS Action Plan on Counter-Terrorism. The Summit was concluded with the adoption of Delhi Declaration.

All Praises for Paralympians

After a remarkable and extra-ordinary show at Tokyo Paralympics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the Paralympians at his official residence in New Delhi on September 10, 2021 and felicitated them on their best-ever performance. Expressing his happiness on the athletes’ performance in the Tokyo Olympics, the Prime Minister said, “Your indomitable spirit and willpower is praiseworthy in light of the insurmountable odds that the para-athletes have overcome in their lives. Every athlete is a champion and pride of India.” He further asked them to look beyond wins and losses.

The Indian para-athletes registered their best-ever performance in the Tokyo Games by winning an unprecedented 19 medals, including five gold, eight silver and six bronze. Coaches played an important role in bringing out the best from the athletes which made this possible. As compared to Rio Olympics held in 2016 where the contingent was 19 in number, this time the medal tally being 19 is what makes this Paralympics special and praiseworthy. The Sports Ministry aims to encourage more regional and national level tournaments for the Paralympians in order to regularly compete and hone their skills.