India, Sept. 12 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday called for BRICS to turn its growing economic weight into greater investment and expanded business ties, stressing that freedom of navigation, secure sea lanes and the safety of seafarers were essential to keeping global trade running.

Addressing the BRICS Business Forum in India, Modi urged the grouping to identify and remove its top 10 trade barriers, scale 100 BRICS startups into other member markets every year and build 1,000 new business partnerships annually.

The grouping, he said, should convert its growing economic weight into concrete opportunities for businesses, positioning India as a country building "economic bridges" at a time when trade barriers are rising globally...