NEW DELHI, Sept. 13 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday called on BRICS countries to strengthen unity among the Global South and play an active, stabilising and positive role in global affairs, while proposing five initiatives on greater BRICS cooperation.
He called for the realignment of the global order and for the Global South to become a key driver of the world's multipolarity. His proposed five initiatives aim to "cement the foundation of greater BRICS cooperation," including extending support in developing and implementing artificial intelligence models.
"The Global South, with its collective rise, has become a key driver of world multipolarity. At the same time, the international landscape is volatile and fraught with risks and challenges. To bring stability to the world and make it a better place, BRICS countries must seize the historical initiative, rally the Global South, be an active, stabilising, and positive force in international affairs, and advance the well-being of all humanity,'' he said. "The logic of "might makes right" does not hold, and should have been discarded long ago. Global South countries should jointly defend the rule of law in international affairs, safeguard the basic norms of international relations including sovereign equality, non-interference in internal affairs, and the peaceful settlement of disputes, and ensure that international law and international rules are applied to all, free from double standards," the Chinese President said.
In his address at the concluding session of the BRICS Summit, Xi said the Global South should jointly "defend" the rule of law in international affairs, safeguard the basic norms of global relations including sovereign equality, non-interference in internal affairs, and work towards peaceful settlement of disputes" in line with international law.
Xi Jinping stressed that all nations, regardless of their size, strength, and wealth, must be treated as equal members of the global community, and the Global South countries and nations should "hold high the banner of multilateralism, uphold the authority and role of the United Nations, support multilateral institutions in advancing reform and increasing efficiency, and ensure the equal participation of all countries in international affairs".
Xi's five-point initiative to enhance BRICS cooperation focuses on establishing an inclusive artificial intelligence framework, facilitating trade and investment, deepening digital industry ties, advancing "intelligent manufacturing", and launching a joint science and technology development initiative.
He promised that China will strive to establish a BRICS AI open-source community and will support cooperation in developing and applying large language models. He also vowed that his country will build an open ecosystem for AI.
"China will be a pioneer in establishing a BRICS AI open-source community, support cooperation in developing and applying large language models, hold specialised AI seminars and training courses, and build an open ecosystem for AI," he said.
He also proposed establishing a BRICS special economic zone partnership, under which countries can set up an intelligent portal, coordinate policies, and build a new frontier for open development.
China will push for establishing a BRICS digital ecosystem cloud platform, he said, promising his nation will impart digital skills training and promote technological exchange and industrial alignment.
The annual summit of BRICS -- a grouping of 11 major emerging economies representing around 49.5 per cent of the global population and 40 per cent of global GDP -- concluded with all leading member nations calling for a better global governance and trading architecture to navigate current challenges.
China will hold the next BRICS summit.
He also called for reform of the international financial architecture to increase the representation of developing countries.
China will be a pioneer in establishing a BRICS-AI open source community to support the cooperation in developing and applying large language models, hold specialized AI seminars and training courses, and build an open AI ecosystem, he said, about the first initiative.
On the trade and investment facilitation initiative, Xi said China proposes to establish a BRICS special economic zone partnership, under which countries can set up an intelligent portal, coordinate policies, and build a new frontier for open development.
The third initiative, he said, will be in the domain of the digital industry.
"China will push for establishing a BRICS digital ecosystem cloud platform, and conduct digital skills training, technological exchange and industrial alignment, so as to jointly enable the development of the digital economy,'' he said.
The fourth one, Xi said, is to have expanded cooperation in the "intelligent manufacturing".
"China stands ready to assist fellow BRICS countries in building smart factories and developing standards and norms, and jointly promote manufacturing transformation and upgrading,'' he said.
The fifth initiative will be in the science and technology domain.
"China proposes to set up a BRICS engineer cultivation alliance for joint development of engineers and mutual recognition of competency standards. China will launch a BRICS youth exchange programme for scientific and technological innovation, so as to cultivate more high-caliber talent,'' he said.With Agency Inputs
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.