IBSA nations can do a lot together for each other and world: PM (Embargoed till 2.30 a.m.)

BRASILIA - The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on Thursday said that India, Brazil, and South Africa or, the IBSA countries can do a lot by working together to benefit each other and rest of the world.

During his opening statement at the plenary session of the IBSA summit, Prime Minister Dr. Singh said: “The IBSA Forum provides a framework of cooperation among three major democracies from three different continents. We are all developing economies with shared values and similar aspirations. There is a lot that we can do together to benefit each other, and the world.”

“We have made a conscious effort to ensure that our interaction goes beyond just the government level. The IBSA framework is unique because of its focus on people to people contacts. Strengthening of dialogue among civil society and the promotion of sporting links and tourism is an important dimension of IBSA activities. The dialogue over the past three days in the parliamentarian, business, women’s ,editors’, small business, local government and academic fora is a testimony of our commitment to building bonds of friendship and understanding among our people,” Dr. Singh said.

“At the inter-governmental level, we cooperate on a wide range of issues. Our Foreign and Trade ministers meet regularly. The sixteen Working Groups in different sectors provide a framework for our cooperation,” he added.

Mentioning about the considerable progress made in the areas of science and technology and energy cooperation, Dr. Singh said: “We have expanded our cooperation to ocean research, space science, and the Antarctica. The three countries have participated in a joint naval exercise IBSAMAR. The second exercise will take place in South Africa later this year.” By Ravinder Singh Robin(ANI)